The buy-to-let market should continue to play an important part of the housing market with brokers confident that it will bring good returns for landlords.

This comes in light of research by Alliance & Leicester which shows that brokers think landlord will consult them primarily for qualified advice (59 per cent), followed by buy-to-let deals (20 per cent) and then for competitive rates (11 per cent).

Commenting on the forecast, Mark Blackwell, director of intermediary sales at Alliance & Leicester, said: "The buy-to-let market will continue to be a significant part of the overall housing market for investors and broker sentiment indicates that buy-to-let will continue to deliver in 2008."

Mr Blackwell added that customers with multiple properties and a high level of fixed-rate lending would probably be relatively unaffected by falling house prices and changes in base rates.

However, he advised that landlord with fewer properties will need to ensure that they avoid pitfalls in the near future and that professional advice is intrinsic to this.

Elsewhere, Alliance & Leicester has announced that it is to discontinue its plusmortgage products.

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