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Its Looking Good For Landlords
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has reported that things are looking good for residential landlords. Rental yields have grown to record levels in the second quarter of 2007 and the body expects growth to continue into the third quarter of the year.
Spokesman Simon Rubinsohn believes that many house buyers are now "sitting on their hands" and that this means first-time buyers in particular “are more likely to sit tight and take a six-month rental contract to see how the market unfolds", something he believes "should give the buy-to-let market a further boost".
He speculates that lending criteria are going to become much tighter, meaning some buyers will find it difficult if not impossible to get a mortgage. "It will get harder to get a buy-to-let mortgage, which could dent supply at the very time demand is on the increase," he claims, which means landlords with a property in the right place stand to make a killing. But will all this mean that buy-to-let investors are once again blamed for the inability of first-time buyers to access the housing market? It is an accusation frequently levelled at landlords - but an inaccurate one, according to one property investment website.
A survey undertaken by propertyfinder.com concluded that economic conditions - such as repeated base rate rises - are to blame. Warren Bright, chief executive of the company, said "Property investors make high profile scapegoats but are simply too small in number to be responsible."
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