Rescue plans for buy-to-let landlords, who face the prospect of seeing properties repossessed, are coming into fashion as the housing market weakens further.

Egerton Partners, an advisory firm, is one of the first groups to take bids from wealthy investors who are keen to put up capital to support struggling landlords with large property portfolios of £5m ($8.14m) to £30m.

Under such “partnership-agreements”, the buy-to-let landlord would retain ownership of the property, but the investor would receive any return up to a stated threshold. The original owner would have the chance to benefit if rental yields on the property exceeded the set limit laid out in the contract and would also receive a fee for managing the property.

In most cases, properties will be kept until the housing market improves and the profit from a sale would be divided between the investor and the original owner.

Chris Fleming-Brown, a managing partner at Egerton, said it decided to launch a buy-to-let programme after seeing a flurry of interest from wealthy investors who were keen to invest in a property portfolio when house prices were falling.

“As they are not property professionals, they benefit from the interest and experience of the existing owner in managing and improving the portfolio,” he said. “The arrangement allows the buy-to-let owner to maintain an ongoing role in the management of the portfolio and have a chance to gain a slice of the upside, if it is impressive.”

The fortunes of buy-to-let investors have been badly hit by the slowdown in the housing market. Their refinancing costs have climbed as banks clamp down on lending and raise rates on available buy-to-let mortgages. At the moment, it is also difficult to sell properties, even at reduced prices.

While more buy-to-let landlords now face difficulty covering higher mortgage payments with rental income, brokers forecast that their prospects will improve if interest rates fall farther – a cut is widely expected next week – and rates on tracker mortgages are reduced as expected. Ray Boulger, technical director at the broker John Charcol, said: “Bank rate cuts are like manna from heaven for buy-to-let investors who are on tracker mortgages and when rates are reduced, hopefully most landlords will not see a shortfall between their rental income and their mortgage payments.”