A recent report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has identified that UK house prices will continue to fall, not forecasted to rise before the end of the year. With buy to let investors able to snap up cheaper property coupled with strong demand for rented accommodation, it's hardly surprising landlord confidence in the UK buy-to-let market remains positive.
Highlighting landlord optimism, a Private Rental Sector Health Check for September 2012 from online lettings agency Upad has revealed that landlord confidence in the UK buy-to-let market remains buoyant with 69% of landlords stating that they were more confident in September 2012. This represents a slight increase on figures seen back in August.
Asking 423 landlords whether they were more or less confident in September nearly 69% said that their assurance in the market was attributed to factors such as a steady rental market, low interest rates and very little unoccupied rental accommodation.
James Davis, CEO of online lettings agent Upad comments:
"Falling house prices, attractive mortgage deals, increased demand for rental property in the UK and higher yields has created the perfect environment for UK landlords to thrive. I'm not surprised that over half of landlords surveyed believe now is a good time to invest in property according to a report by Your Move's parent company, LSL Property Services. Our data further backs up the confident attitude landlords have in the market."
Of course, each landlord questioned in Upad's survey had their own reasons for being confident in September 2012. One landlord commented: "The feeling in general is good. The rental market is stable if not growing and interest rates look like they'll be staying low for quite a while which helps with mortgage repayments."
Meanwhile, other landlords pointed towards the little or no vacant accommodation available for their increased assurance with one landlord explaining: "I'm more confident in the buy-to-let market this month than last month as early in Sept I had one of my flats on the market (via Upad) and had many interested parties wanting to rent. Also, I usually get an idea about rental demand by visiting two of my local letting agent web sites to see what's on the market and it seems to me there is very little vacant rental accommodation available at the moment."
