Savills has reported a significant increase in the number of people taking out mortgages to acquire buy-to-let properties.

While most investment properties are still bought with cash - there was a 9% increase in the number of mortgage drawdowns by investors last year.

This indicates both that investors are willing to take on debt to acquire properties and that banks are lending to buy-to-let customers.

The proportion of entirely cash-backed purchases has fallen steadily during the past 15 months.

Savills notes that investors favour central locations, particularly those close to third level institutions and strong transport links.

Director of Research at Savills Ireland John McCartney commented on the results:

"Easy access to credit created a generation of highly geared investors in the first half of the 2000s. Following the bust, however, buy-to-let mortgages became harder to get ... Consequently, investors reverted to a more traditional cash-financed model in recent years"

The agency expects this trend to continue, with debt-backed buy-to-let purchases continuing to increase.