Buy to let landlords are confident that their businesses will continue to prosper during the next few months despite the possible upset of the general election in May.
Two-thirds of landlords told buy to let lender BM Solutions that they felt their businesses would do well over the next three months.
This confidence is buoying their hopes of buying more letting properties.
Researchers were told that 20% of landlords bought more letting property in the final three months of last year, and nearly a third have plans to do so this year.
Even a fifth of landlords with a single letting property plan to acquire more buy to let homes.
However, their thoughts about how the economy is performing were not so high.
Around a quarter believe the UK is doing well, but that?s a fall of a third from last quarter, when 37% gave Prime Minister David Cameron and his Lib Dem allies the thumbs up.
Looking at their buy to let businesses, 30% of rental homes had a void in the final quarter of 2014 ‘ a record low.
Only 7% felt tenant demand was dropping away, while 37% thought demand was increasing.
This feeling was expressed strongly in the London suburbs, East and the South East.
Strongest demand was in Central London, while the feeling in Wales was the opposite.
Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions, said: “Landlords continue to have faith in their portfolios and in tenant demand with rental arrears and voids at historic lows. This is filtering through to their expansion plans and we’re seeing a high proportion expecting to grow their portfolios in 2015.”
Rickards also expects buy to let to do well in 2015 ‘ with mortgage lending for landlords reaching around the same level as last year.
?The only thing that may hold new landlords back is how affordability will affect buy to let mortgages under the new European Directive,’ he said.
Under these rules, from 2016, lenders must treat ‘accidental landlords’ letting out a former home the same as other homebuyers and not base the deal on rent cover as in a traditional buy to let loan.
… LandlordZONE.
Article courtesy of LandlordZONE””
