Buy-to-let market likely to see growth in 2010
February 8th, 2010A handful of letting agencies and buy-to-let industry leaders are expecting this year to bring a period of modest growth to Britain’s residential rental sector. HomeLet, for example, published statistics suggesting that 98 percent of surveyed letting agents either expected that the buy-to-let sector would experience modest growth, or that rents would remain at current rates, but would not fall in the coming months. This high proportion of letting agents with a positive outlook for the rest of 2010 represents a 12 percent increase compared to the results of an identical survey conducted in January 2009. A minority of the 98 percent of respondents who have a positive outlook go even further, noting that gains in the buy-to-let sector may actually be “substantial” as the year progresses.
HomeLet’s statistics echo numbers published by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla), which recently released information showing that 41 percent of its members had more tenants than available properties for rent. This is very significantly higher than the 24 percent of agents who found that they had more tenants than properties in the late summer of 2009.
John Boyle, HomeLet’s managing director, predicted that this positive trend may continue for a couple of years, especially as many young Britons will have difficulty securing the mortgages they need to buy their first home. This, and the flexibility that renting a home offers, means that the balance between the supply and demand of properties may be in favour of residential landlords for the foreseeable future.
