March 13, 2011
Good Times Ahead For Buy-To-Let Landlords?
This year and next year both look set to be good times for buy-to-let (BTL) landlords but tenants will have to compete for the best rental property.
According to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), demand for rental property will continue to outstrip supply for much of 2011 and into 2012.
ARLA says the lack of new rental stock for the private rented sector was a dominant factor in the market last year, and will continue well into 2012 because of the broader issues of diminishing housing supply and lending drying up.
ARLA operations director Ian Potter says: "The Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, recently flagged research that shows 41% young low-to-middle earners live in privately rented accommodation compared with 14% in 1988. This trend looks set to continue while mortgages are so hard to come by and the capital barriers to home ownership appear so entrenched."
The majority of ARLA member offices (59%) believe that demand for rental property will continue to outstrip supply in 2011. Almost four in ten ARLA offices believe that more private landlords will enter the market over the next 12 months
