And Still There's No Let-Up
From Metro
March 5, 2008
More than a million Britons are now landlords who are paying off a mortgage on rental property.
The number of outstanding buy-to-let loans stood at 1,038,000 at the end of 2007, compared with 991,600 a year earlier, according to figures released this week by the Council Of Mortgage Lenders.
The figures show property investment is still growing despite the recent doom and gloom in the overall market. Investors appear confident house prices will recover over the next five to ten years and that rental yields will improve.
Research from one of the biggest buy-to-let lenders, Birmingham Midshires, found that while five per cent of Britons are currently landlords, almost a quarter of non-landlords are considering a property investment in the future.
The typical property investor is a middle-aged man considering a buy-to-let investment as part of his retirement portfolio.
Tim Hague, managing director of mortgages at Birmingham Midshires, says: 'The buy-to-let market has grown considerably over the past ten years, with total returns estimated at 16.3 per cent. There have been dire predictions that the property bubble is about to burst but, frankly, we are just not seeing that. Builders just can't build houses fast enough and demand for rental property is strong as workers travel around the country to find work.
'We have seen no reduction in demand for buy-to-let mortgages but, like many providers, we are tightening up on lending criteria.'
