MOST people who take out a buy-to-let mortgage want to purchase more properties, according to a recent survey. Birmingham Midshires, the specialist lender of the Halifax Group, conducted a survey of its buy-to-let mortgage customers and revealed that 79 per cent of respondents said they would consider adding to their portfolio.

Of these, the majority (64 per cent) said they would ideally like between two and 10 properties.

Michael Bolton, head of mortgage marketing at Birmingham Midshires, said: "Buy-to-let is a long term investment and most people enter this market primarily as a means of earning income for themselves in the future.

"Providing it is looked into properly, becoming a private landlord is not as daunting as some people might first imagine -as the survey results have shown. When done properly, buy-to-let can be a very accessible investment option."

The survey also revealed the main reason people go into the buy-to-let market is to earn an additional income now and for the future.

More than half of the respondents (51 per cent) said it was to create additional income for the future/retirement and a further 27 per cent said it was to create an income now and an investment for the future.

Six per cent chose to buy-to-let as a means of owning additional property for their family/friends to live in and four per cent saw it as a chance to provide an investment for their children to inherit.