Landlords "positive" about buy-to-let

Landlords are actively expanding their property portfolios, with buy-to-let activity remaining strong, a new report reveals.

According to Paragon, rents saw a sustained growth over the last quarter to February, reaching levels that were 6.9 per cent up on November, from £9,665 to £10,334.

Rents rose faster than house prices in February, the firm said, leading to a positive impact on rental yields, which rose to 6.1 per cent.

The firm claimed that any suggestions that buy-to-let activity was influenced by fluctuations in interest rates were "unfounded", with the Council of Mortgage Lenders recording buy-to-let volumes 19.4 per cent higher in the second half of 2006 than in the first half.

Landlords were taking a long-term view of the market, with investment decisions based on underlying trends of supply and demand rather than the short-term signals of fluctuating interest rates, it stated.

Chief executive Nigel Terrington said: "Landlords tell us that they expect to grow the value of their portfolios by 4.8 per cent over the next 12 months, which is a clear indication that they are positive about the current environment."

Birmingham Midshires research indicates that 21 per cent of homes to be bought in the next year will be bought by property investors.

Grandin comments, “I am surprised that we find ourselves repeating phrases such as demand and supply but clearly the lack of supply of property is fuelling landlords to buy more Buy To Let property. I do not see why the Buy To Let Mortgage Lenders Paragon and Birmingham and Midshires need to release such research. Research like this is normally conducted when lenders have a lack of confidence and such lack of confidence may well be evident on the part of Birmingham Midshires. Birmingham Midshires have recently priced themselves out of the Buy To Let Mortgage Market but amusingly, they may now price themselves back in!”

LettingAgent.com “We have strong demand for London property for rent, our low fees may distort the figures slightly but inevitably great pick up in rents is evident.”

Single buyers lift UK house prices

An increase in the number of single people buying their own home is pushing up house prices, new figures reveal.

The data from mform.co.uk shows that while 26.2 per cent of the homes bought in the last three years were purchased by single buyers, of those planning to buy a property in the next six months, 39.86 per cent will be living alone.

According to the firm, the trend is set to continue, as ten per cent of 25 to 44-year-olds currently live alone compared to just two per cent in 1973.

By 2021, 35 per cent of households in the UK are expected to be made up of people living alone, which could be good news for buy-to-let landlords seeking tenants.

Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk marketing and business development director, said: "If more of us decide to live alone, that means more demand for property, which will place greater pressure on prices making it more expensive to own a home."

He added that this would be made worse by the fact that there is a growing shortage of homes in the UK.

A shortage of homes for sale in relation to demand has been credited as contributing to recent house price growth, with Nationwide's Fionnuala Earley commenting that this would keep prices "fairly firm" in the short-term.

Landlord Mortgages “If the data is a true then the UK housing crisis is worse than first thought. A lack of supply of property will be magnified if single men and women buy the current housing stock. Buy To Let landlords are likely to purchase substantially more property if this trend continues.”

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