Paragon unveils rise in profits

Paragon, which only returned to the buy-to-let mortgage market recently, has unveiled a rise in its profits.

The company revealed that profits are up by almost a third, following its success in securing a £200 million funding facility at the end of the summer.

It stated: "Low interest rates have increased affordability for customers, reducing the incidence of new arrears and assisting the correction of past arrears.

"Credit performance remains in line with our expectations."

Paragon added that buy-to-let landlords are experiencing a high level of demand at the moment.

The firm explained that this is because the state of the housing market currently means more people are looking to rent a home rather than buying.

This comes after the latest release of the Rent Index showed a rise in rental costs of 1.63 per cent for buy to let properties.

It revealed the average cost is now £600 per month, which is 1.48 per cent up on a year ago.