The latest figures on from the Council of Mortgages Lenders do provide some comfort for house builders tackling an increasingly tough market.

There were fears that buy-to-let borrowing would collapse with the first whiff of a slowdown in house prices, but the figures suggest otherwise. The figures suggest buy-to-let is holding up better than mortgage lending to homebuyers (see graph ).

Buy-to-let lenders appear to be buoyed by a strengthening rental market as the latest shows.

The question is how sustainable this market will be given that the has slipped more recently from flat over the year to a fall of between 5% and 10%.