The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 38
The Interview.
Paragon and Propertymark
The Intermediary sat down with Sedgwick,
alongside Nathan Emerson, CEO at
Propertymark, to take a look back at 30 years,
and consider what is next for British BTL.
Levelling the field
Jessica Bird speaks with Louisa
Sedgwick, managing director of
mortgages at Paragon Bank, and
Nathan Emerson, CEO at
Propertymark, about the past
30 years of UK buy-to-let
he early ‘90s. Brick phones,
dial-up tones, jazzy outfits,
and – almost unbelievably now
– no dedicated buy-to-let (BTL)
products. Landlords generally
had to use commercial-type
finance, over 5- or 10-year
terms, which were amortised,
so had to be paid down over the term of the
loan. This kept the door firmly closed for those
without considerable funds at the outset.
Louisa Sedgwick, managing director at
Paragon Bank, says: “You had massive demand
from tenants, and inadequate supply because of
that funding mechanism.”
In 1996, as Dolly the Sheep and the Spice
Girls’ ‘Wannabe’ took the headlines by storm,
UK property was also altered in historic fashion,
as Paragon, ARLA (now Propertymark) and
others launched the first BTL products akin to
those available to owner-occupiers.
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The Intermediary | September 2026
The intention with those early products was to
create a funding model capable of supporting
landlords, and address growing tenant demand.
Sedgwick says: “It created the opportunity
to support more normal ‘run-of-the-mill’
individuals, and enable them then to buy
properties with a view to renting them out.”
Emerson adds: “Everybody came together, on
the back of a very, very poor housing market,
with high levels of repossessions. This made the
market very entrepreneurial, but mainly it took
away the pain and enabled people to not only
buy new property, but also to refinance existing
properties on a different set of terms. That gave
them access to more ‘normal’ lending at more
sensible rates over a longer period of time. It
saved a lot of people being evicted.”
Financial turmoil had taken a toll on
pension pots for many, and BTL emerged as an
alternative for later life income.
“It plugged up a very important gap in the
housing market, provided stability at the time
that it was needed, and also created a longterm, sustainable, secure lending criteria with
an asset behind it as well,” Emerson says.
The also supported those that would become
known – affectionately or not – as ‘accidental’
or ‘dinner party’ landlords. The private rented
sector (PRS) was fundamentally changed, with
lenders such as Paragon at the centre.
“This market has provided an opportunity for
many people to build wealth, who would never
have been able to do so,” Emerson says.
In 1996, there were just under two million
households within the PRS. That figure is now
in the realm of 4.91 million. The sector accounts
for almost 19% of all housing tenure.
Paragon Bank’s own evolution has mirrored
the wider market. It started as a mortgage
lender, later becoming a bank – which
Sedgwick says has brought greater oversight
and governance. It has also moved pure BTL
to providing development, motor, SME and
structured finance, among others.
This diversification has supported growth,
rather than leaving the business wholly
