More than half of buy-to-let landlords have focused on growing their property portfolios in the past 12 months.
Research from The Mortgage Lender found 25 per cent of landlords have added a single property in the past 12 months and a further 27 per cent added multiple properties.
The Mortgage Lender head of key accounts and specialist distribution, Chris Kirby, said last year’s high inflationary and interest rate environment saw unsettled confidence levels among prospective homebuyers.
However, for residential landlords, the Mortgage Lender’s research showed they had not been as discouraged.
“Many are taking opportunities to grow their portfolios, and with rates reducing, average rents increasing and house price growth predicted, landlords have good reason to be optimistic,” Kirby continued.
“It certainly paints a positive picture and highlights the continued interest in buy-to-let as an asset class.”
Future expansion
Looking ahead to the next 12 months, The Mortgage Lender predicted expansion will “continue to be on the agenda” for more than half of BTL landlords.
Some 26 per cent of landlords plan to add another single property to their portfolio, and another 26 per cent plan to add multiple properties.
The lender stated this could be attributed to “positivity in the market” with 74 per cent confirming they are confident in the residential property market for the next 12 months ahead.
The Mortgage Lender’s research looked into what had prompted landlords to add to their portfolios.
Increased tenant demand was the most commonly cited reason (34 per cent) with a quarter saying it was having spare capital to deploy.
While many landlords have been growing their portfolios, there are some who have been selling their properties, with 31 per cent having sold one or more of their properties in the past 12 months, and 33 per cent planning to do so in the next year.
Looking at the top reasons that prompted this decision among landlords, concerns over re-mortgaging due to rising interest rates was the most popular with 35 per cent of respondents citing it.
This was followed by concerns over falling house prices, mentioned by 28 per cent.
Additionally, 23 per cent said they sold a property in the past 12 months in order to buy another that was a better investment.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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