A rise in the number of buy to let mortgages granted at the end of last year suggests a long-awaited upturn in the buy to let market, suggested Landlord Today on the 20th of February.
Facing a tighter tax regime and increasing regulation of their business, in recent years many landlords have felt under the thumb. As we reported in the middle of last year, more than a third of landlords seemed to react to the possible repeal of “no-fault” Section 21 evictions as the last straw and said they would sell up if it went ahead.
As a result of trends such as these, said Landlord Today, landlords have been selling up at a rate of as many as 4,000 properties a month – much to the detriment of the available stock of private rented accommodation.
A renewed sense of confidence – as expressed by the rise in buy to let mortgage applications – is welcome news, therefore.
In December a total of 5,700 new buy to let mortgages were granted – up by some 3.6% on the same month the previous year.
Remortgages in the BTL sector of the market were also up – a total of 13,300, or an annual increase of 2.3% from December 2018 to December 2019.
With better news now finally on the horizon for landlords – and the tenants who will occupy the revitalised rented housing stock – industry commenters are urging the government to avoid rocking the boat with the introduction of still further regulation of the private rented sector.
