November 18, 2011
Buy to Let Investment Market Flourishes Again
Recent figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders have shown yet another increase in the number of buy to let mortgages being successfully approved each month. It seems that during Q3 of this year (July through to September) around 34,500 buy to let mortgage applications were approved; an increase of 16% on the previous quarter and a figure that accounted for 12% of all mortgage approvals during the period.
These new loan approvals have bought the total number of outstanding buy to let mortgages to over 1.4million – the largest number of buy to let loans ever recorded in the UK. It is also estimated that the total debt attributable to these buy to let loans currently stands at over £157billion – a figure that shows the current strength of the buy to let market.
It also seems that rents have hit record levels in many areas, but the good news doesn’t stop there. According to Savills, one of the country’s best known estate agents, rents are set to continue their steady increase over the next five years, with a predicted total increase of over 20% during this period.
If this is true, will tenants be put off living in privately rented properties a few years down the line? The answer is yes they probably will, but with the housing market as it is very few first-time buyers can afford the deposits needed to secure a mortgage, and so private renting is and will continue to be their only real option.
It is then up to the landlord to cash in on their predicament.
