Landlord Expansion - is it impossible to build a big portfolio in this day and age?

General Discussion

In recent weeks I have found myself thinking "do I :

1. Expand my property portfolio

or

2. Shrink my property portfolio

Then I looked out in the mortgage world , and I see that 90+% now no longer allow you to have more than say 5 properties (this fluctuates from company to company) as they see you a "risk".

Are they days of being able to build a massive portfolio over , unless you are cash rich with income ..

I could buy circa three more properties a year in cash, but I'd rather (tax) buy with mortgage ..

I'm interested in others thoughts.

BTW - I'm in south, where the average unit costs £200K. I appreciate up north you can buy more property for your money. However, same rule applies I expect.