It’s fair to say that the media’s money pages often tend to focus on the negative parts of the buy-to-let market rather than the positive ones.
I’m sure you will continue to see headlines referring to landlords selling property, but what you are less likely to read about is the continued resilience being shown by lenders, landlords, developers and investors – both domestic and overseas.
A number of factors are driving activity throughout the buy-to-let sector. The obvious one being that a growing number of landlords are taking advantage of the current climates to expand their portfolios and tap into some changing tenant demands and priorities – in relation to property type, flexible home working capacity, location and outside space.
Houses appear to be more in demand than flats and it’s widely suggested a greater number of people are looking to rent for longer.
Students and staycations
The return of the student population has also played a key role in both increased activity and demand.
There was no guarantee of this happening during the early summer months and this represents a significant proportion of the buy-to-let market, especially for professional landlords.
The more specialist areas such as holiday lets and ex-pat buy-to-let are also seeing additional options emerge and there is also growing demand among first-time buyers looking to enter the buy-to-let market.
This was highlighted in recent data from Legal & General which showed brokers searching for loan options for combinations of first-time buyers, first-time landlords and non-owner occupiers have seen an 18% increase since the beginning of September.
The data also showed holiday lets’ were the second most searched term among mortgage advisers in September, moving from the top spot in August.
International travel restrictions have fuelled an increase in demand for ‘staycations’, with many choosing to holiday in the UK rather than travelling abroad.
Opportunities
The importance of the private rented sector continues to rise as the housing supply gap widens, the amount of affordable housing being built lessens and demand for rental property will only grow.
These factors are generating more opportunities for landlords and lending appetites are escalating to provide some highly-competitive funding options.
If you would like to know more about taking advantage of the buy-to-let opportunities in the current housing market, speak to one of our advisers today on 01403 272625 or visit https://www.impactsf.co.uk
Dale Jannels is managing director at Impact Specialist Finance
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