New research reveals landlords are bullish about 2014

According to new research, nearly a quarter of landlords are looking to buy more property in 2014 and are feeling bullish about the new year, after falling rent arrears and rising rents during the last 12 months.

The study*, conducted by Makeurmove.co.uk – a leading online letting agent, shows that the vast majority of landlords have experienced good rental yields with 59% achieving between 4-8%, while 25% achieved a yield of 8% or more this year. (* Source: Makeurmove.co.uk research amongst 300 landlords, December 2013).

What’s more, nearly a third of landlords are enjoying sizeable equity in their property, with a loan to value ratio of 20% or less and almost 60% of landlords expect to see property values continuing to increase in 2014. One blot on the horizon are interest rates and nearly half of landlords believe they will rise in the next two years.

Richard Francis, Director and Founder of Makeurmove.co.uk commented:

“Our research demonstrates that landlords are feeling positive about the buy-to-let market, having hopefully seen the back of restricted finance and rising rent arrears. The news that that buy-to-let lending will reach £25 billion by the end of 2014, which represents a 25% increase on lending in 2013, is an indication that the buy-to-let market is starting to grow again.

“Rents are rising across England and Wales, hitting record levels in September, with the average price paid by private tenants reaching £757 a month. With a growth is demand for quality rental accommodation from the fastest growing group of private tenants, 35-44 year olds, landlords can look forward to a more profitable year ahead if they capitalise on this market opportunity.”