Despite constant changes in lender activity over half of buy-to-let landlords (52%) still believe it is relatively easy to obtain mortgage finance and one in five are currently looking to buy further properties, an increase from December last year.
The landlords who remain determined to expand their portfolios are looking to new regions and cities according to independent research commissioned by The Money Centre. Central London remains a popular investment area with 34% of landlords stating they were looking to buy in the heart of the capital city. However, the North West and non-central London areas look set to be future hot spots with more landlords looking to buy properties in these areas.
The top five cities where landlords surveyed currently have properties are:
London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester have featured in the top five locations throughout the last 12 months, but this is the first time Cambridge has entered the top five pushing Leeds out of the top of the table.
Flats are remaining the most popular type of property for both buying and selling prospects, but the research has highlighted a possible trend towards terraced houses with more landlords looking to purchase this type of property than sell off existing terraced stock. Proximity to a town centre, travel links or university have remained the top three influences for landlords choosing a property location.
This latest wave of research has shown that overall optimism about business expectations in the next year has dropped to the lowest level recorded. However, over half (52%) of the 508 landlords surveyed still believe the overall prospects were looking positive and 61 per cent believed rental yield expectations would remain strong.
The majority of landlords entered the market to help secure their financial position or to generate an extra source of monthly income. They remain committed to buy-to-let in the long term with over half (52%) of those surveyed in March reporting that they expect to stay involved in property letting for more than 10 years. Only 19% said they expected to stay in letting for less than 5 years and 8% said they were unsure.
The research also shows the average length of time landlords expect to be in letting is 17.5 years, which is why scaremongering over house prices dropping is not a major concern for professional landlords.”
