Buy-to-let landlords who are hoping to benefit from the existing stamp duty holiday have been warned that they will need to move quickly to take advantage.

Property Master says that landlords face a “race against time” as lenders start to increase mortgage rates.

The online broker has said that trends such as increased processing, response and hold times across all lenders are being witnessed in the buy-to-let market.

Angus Stewart, chief executive of Property Master, commented points out that major lenders, such as Barclays and NatWest, have recently announced big price increases on their buy-to-let mortgage ranges.

He said: “Whilst we have seen price increases and product withdrawals before as lenders seek to manage the demand caused by the stamp duty cut, these new rises suggest lenders may now also be concerned about the worsening economic situation.

“As well as price rises, we are seeing severe delays generally with lenders sometimes taking weeks to respond to enquiries.

“There is a similar story with many solicitors.”

With some employees working from home and in some cases self-isolating, the property market generally is struggling to keep up with demand, according Stewart.

He continued: “If these delays continue, completing house purchases in time for the end of the stamp duty cut in March is going to be a race against time for many landlords.

“More worryingly still we are seeing is valuers undervaluing properties and, in some instances, returning a ‘£0’ valuation on properties that we would not have expected to present a problem.

“We have even seen this happen on properties that we know would have been acceptable to the lender but when we’ve stepped in and challenged the valuer’s decision the lender has been unwilling to overturn what the valuer has said.”