In the UK, buy-to-let property has been a top target for many investors, big and small. Many people are entering the thriving market as a substitute for pensions.

Now, it seems, the prospects are not so good, as interest rates rise, putting pressure on borrowers, and house prices start to fall. Worse, landlords will be hit harder than the lenders in the prevailing conditions.

Indicative of this, the share price of Paragon, Britain’s biggest buy-to-let lender, has fallen 20 percent this year. This is despite the firm being the most conservative mortgage lender in the sector. Only 0.15 percent of its lending book is in arrears, compared with 0.64 percent across the buy-to-let market, and 0.89 percent in the mortgage sector as a whole.

The company asserts, however, that landlords generate 125 percent of their mortage costs, giving Paragon some protection from a downturn. Similarly, it makes 90 percent of its money from its backbook, so plummeting mortgage applications won’t hit it very hard.

Paragon shares might just be a good buy, despite the state of the market. Whether landlords with their pensions tied up in property will see it that way, remains to be seen. Play it long, is good advice here.