Buy to let landlords maintaining their portfolio size

Buy to let landlords maintaining their portfolio size

15:19 PM, 3rd June 2011, About 13 years ago

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Just one in one hundred buy to let landlords think now is a good time to reduce their portfolios, according to a survey by LSL Property Services.

Instead, 49% think they should be investing in new property, up 2% on last year. In fact of the landlords questioned, a massive 86% have said they will be maintaining, or increasing the size of their current portfolio.

These latest figures show the market is continuing to benefit buy to let landlords.

David Newnes estate agency managing director for LSL Property Services plc, said “Optimism among landlords is not only buoyant, but increasing. Soaring rents and climbing demand from frustrated first-time buyers are not only making buy-to-let an attractive proposition for new property investors – but are encouraging existing landlords to grow their holdings before property prices increase once more.”

Landlords are seeing a rise in demand from tenants and 62% are still expecting another rise in the next 12 months.

Despite this, 54% say they’re finding it more difficult to raise mortgage finance resulting in nearly half of the landlords who bought last year were cash buyers (48%).

Newnes commented saying “The buy-to-let mortgage market is not going to spring back to its pre-downturn level in the foreseeable future, but there are signs that it is picking up slightly for investors. There is still a chronic lack of supply of rental homes, and it is crucial that lending criteria loosen to encourage professional investors into the market to grow the private rental sector.”

LSL Property Services own Your Move among other residential property companies and is the second largest estate agency group in the UK.


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