Southern landlords most confident about BTL’s future

Landlords in southern England are markedly more hopeful about their buy to let (BTL) ventures compared to their counterparts in the Midlands and north, a study reveals.

The survey by Landbay, which gathered insights from landlords managing around 2,000 properties, highlights a regional divide in sentiment.

In the south, 23% of landlords express a positive outlook for the future, surpassing the 17% in the Midlands and 13% in the north.

Conversely, pessimism is more pronounced in the north, where 44% of landlords feel negative about their prospects, compared to 39% in the south and 42% in the Midlands.

More landlords expanding than selling

The lender’s sales and distribution director, Rob Stanton, said: “Given the current economic climate and the state of play when it comes to taxation and future regulation, landlords in the north and Midlands can be forgiven for not feeling more upbeat about their prospects.

“Landlords have seen some huge changes in the BTL market – increases in stamp duty and the Renters’ Rights Bill being two very significant ones – and may have been unsettled by escalating geopolitical tensions recently, too.

“That’s all hit sentiment. While there are certainly some headwinds to contend with, it is reassuring to know so few of them are choosing to cut and run entirely.”

He added: “There are forty landlords looking to expand their properties for every one landlord planning to chuck in their portfolios entirely.”

Incorporated landlords less pessimistic

Landbay’s survey also uncovered differences based on business structure with landlords operating through limited companies being less pessimistic.

Only 35% of them expressed negative views, compared to 56% of those borrowing as individuals.

Portfolio size further influences confidence levels with those managing four to 10 properties being the most upbeat, with 31% feeling positive.

Landlords with more than 20 properties are the least confident, with 55% reporting negative sentiments.

Nationally, 39% of landlords remain neutral about their business’s future, while 18% are positive and 42% are negative.

Despite challenges, only 0.75% of those surveyed plan to sell their entire portfolio.

Among neutral landlords, 25% are contemplating partial sales, but none intend to exit completely, and 47% have no plans to expand.

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