Press Release Summary = With the current financial climate, in which first-time buyers are struggling to get even a hand, let alone a foot on the property ladder, it is perhaps no surprise that many landlords are feeling confident in their investments.
Press Release Body = With the current financial climate, in which first-time buyers are struggling to get even a hand, let alone a foot on the property ladder, it is perhaps no surprise that many landlords are feeling confident in their investments.
Buy-to-let investors, fully aware of the influx of immigrant workers and spiralling house prices, have been able to reap the rewards of high rental yield and strong tenant demand in recent years. And according to a new piece of research, this shows no signs of slowing down.
Bradford & Bingley claims to have conducted the biggest-ever survey of buy-to-let investors, encompassing more than 5,000 across the country. According to the study, the average landlord is male, aged between 36 and 45 and owns somewhere between one and five properties.
Perhaps more telling though is the fact that more than half of those surveyed intend to expand their portfolios, despite the number of recent Bank of England base rate rises and the spectre of further hikes on the horizon. This trend, which shows that many landlords are looking to property as a long-term investment option, is indicative of the confidence they hold in the future of this country\'s property market and the unlikelihood of any crash.
Additionally, in comparison with last year\'s study a greater number of landlords plan to at least maintain the size of their buy-to-let property portfolio (88 per cent compared to 86 per cent in 2006), while just seven per cent of those surveyed have been in the vocation for less than 12 months. And many of the respondents are anticipating a bumper year, with rental incomes either growing or stabilising over the coming six months. Just four per cent thought that income from their properties is likely to drop in this period.
Andy Wiggans, director of mortgages at Bradford & Bingley, commenetd: \"Despite recent reports of a slowdown in the buy-to-let sector, our biggest ever survey of those at the heart of the market shows it remains strong.
\"Buy-to-let remains a popular market that attracts a wide spectrum of people from all walks of life looking for long-term capital growth or a means of supplementing their pension.\"
Conversely, recent research from The Motley Fool revealed that many existing homeowners could soon be struggling to pay their mortgage bills. According to the financial services advice group, another interest rate rise would leave many unable to make ends meet - and while this might be bad news for many, it could serve to strengthen rental demand in the medium-term and ensure that rising rates do little to dampen the buy-to-let sector.
2012
