Landlords say they intend to remain active in the rental property market after the stamp duty holiday deadline ends in March.

Just under half, or 48 per cent of buy-to-let owners said they would do so in the first quarter of the year, within the 31 March end of the stamp duty deadline, according to a poll by Foundation Home Loans.

But 41 per cent of landlords intend to buy in the second quarter, 28 per cent in the third quarter, and 29 per cent in the final three months of 2021. Landlords were able to pick more than one quarter if they were unsure when they might complete.

The survey of 846 online interviews, between December and January, by data group BVA BDRC found that overall 16 per cent of landlords intend to buy a property this year.

Despite reports of industry pressure to complete transactions before the end of March, 65 per cent of landlords say they were ‘very’ or ‘quite confident’ they would complete before the end of the relief.

Only 14 per cent add they would abort their deals if a completion did not look likely.

When asked whether they believed the government would extend the deadline, 28 per cent said yes, while 31 per cent disagreed, although the poll asked these questions before the inconclusive Parliamentary debate on the stamp duty holiday last week.

Also, only 4 per cent of landlords say they wanted to buy because of the stamp duty holiday, with a quarter of those surveyed saying they intended to buy this year, but were holding off because they believed property prices are inflated.

House prices slipped 0.3 per cent month-on-month, while annual house price growth had slowed from 7.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent, according to the Nationwide House Price Index for January.

Foundation Home Loans commercial director George Gee says: “There are a number of positive results to come out of our exclusive research, not least landlords’ continued intention to keep on purchasing after the deadline has passed, and the news that many landlords will not abort their transactions if there is no extension and they look unlikely to complete by the 31 March.”

Gee adds: “In that regard, the next month and a half is very important for the sector.

“Looking beyond the first quarter, there will clearly be ongoing opportunities for advisers active in the landlord borrower space, and all the signals point to significant activity taking place in both the purchase and remortgage sectors.”