More than two-thirds of buy-to-let mortgage applications came from limited companies in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to broker data.

Mortgages for Business reports that the proportion of purchase applications made through a limited company structure jumped by six percentage points from 63% in the third quarter of 2016 to 69% by the end of the year.

This compares with the 21% recorded before the changes to tax relief on mortgage interest were unveiled by former Chancellor George Osborne in July 2015.

However, the broker says that while there has been a significant uptick in number of purchase applications made by limited companies, the amount of products and lenders catering for them remained flat at just 14 while the number of products increased from 195 to 198.

The proportion of products available to landlords using a limited company as a total of all buy-to-let products remained at 16%.

David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business, said: “The sharp increase in purchase applications made by landlords using a limited company structure is unsurprising given the financial incentive to do so, and it is encouraging to see growing numbers of landlords approaching their investments intelligently.

“With the changes to tax relief set to be phased in from April 2017, this trend is unlikely to be reversed any time soon.

“Despite the growth in the number of purchase applications made via limited companies, the number of lenders and products catering to this part of the market has remained flat.

“Although many mainstream lenders do not yet have an offering for investors using limited companies, many smaller lenders have significant expertise when it comes to servicing this part of the market.”