The Bank of Scotland announced yesterday it would withdraw part of its buy to let mortgage range.

The move came because of mounting pressure from the added business of other lenders who have left the market.

A planned product relaunch on Wednesday meant HBOS would drop five of its buy to let mortgages and 10 of its self-certifying mortgages in order to restore some balance.

Heather Scott, head of press relations for HBOS mortgages said, “There has been a very significant reduction in the number of lenders in the specialist sector,

“Our focus is on getting the right proportion of business. We can’t handle the level of business from those lenders who have left the sector.”

Ms Scott could not confirm whether the entire BM Solutions and Mortgage Business ranges would be reintroduced after the proposed relaunch.

Record volumes of mortgage applications have also forced the Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest to increase the minimum size of deposits that landlords must pay.

The figure rose from 15 to 25 per cent of a property’s value. This was proposed as a defensive measure to protect the service in the midst of mounting mortgage applications.

However, experts such as Legal & General said the move was basically a withdrawal from the buy to let market, as the majority of landlords borrowed more than 75 per cent. According to them, the average loan-to-value for a buy to let mortgage was 76 per cent.

Since the second half of last ear when liquidity problems began to affect lenders, landlords have found it increasingly difficult to obtain finance.

According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, the number of buy to let mortgages on the market had fallen by 63 per cent since the start of the credit squeeze, dropping from 2990 in April last year to 1116.