Analysis of over 10,000 addresses shows a fifth of landlords live within a mile of the house or flat they rent out and a further 46% live between one and 10 miles away.
A further 13% live between 10 and 25 miles from the property they rent out. Only 15% of landlords live more than 50 miles away from their buy-to-let investment.
The findings suggest that people prefer to invest in bricks and mortar in areas they know well, despite advice from some professionals that they could gain higher rent yields further afield.
Meanwhile a poll by Simple Landlords reveals that 65% of landlords made a conscious decision to invest in buy-to-let property, meanwhile 17% of people who rent out a property identify themselves as ‘accidental landlords’ who decided to rent out a property they inherited or were unable to sell their home. Some 9% of landlords bought their property specifically for a family member to live in, such as for a child at university.
Half (45%) of those polled owned a single rental property, while 40% owned between 2-4 and 15% said they have a portfolio of over five homes.
The survey shows that most landlords (65%) play an active role in the maintenance of their property, dealing with any problems with tenants themselves rather than via a lettings agent. 24% use an agent to find tenants and then manage the property themselves, 41% do everything themselves, while 35% use an agent to do everything.
Alex Huntley from Simple Landlords Insurance says: “We are seeing an increasing trend of savvy landlords taking direct control of how their property is let and managed and becoming much more self-sufficient. While it can be easy to bash landlords as faceless investors, these results show they are more likely to be part of the community they invest in and take a personal interest in making sure their property is well maintained and tenancies are long-term.
We are also seeing a growing demand from landlords to be able to manage their insurance policies online 24/7 and to buy flexible and scalable policies as their investments change and grow.”
