ARLA: Buy-to-let landlords not selling up

News Category: Management

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Research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) indicates that the vast majority (90 per cent) of buy-to-let landlords had no intention of selling their properties in the last three months of 2007.

As well as this, 40 per cent are expecting to increase their property portfolios this year, in spite of fears of declining property prices.

ARLA's head of operations, Ian Potter, said: "This is good news for the whole of the private rented sector and for the housing market, particularly as it comes from surveys carried out well after the credit crunch had begun to bite.

"The rental sector is the lynchpin for all our housing requirements and needs continual investment from private individuals as it still suffers from a lack of investment from the institutions."

Nevertheless, the credit crunch has affected buy-to-let investors, with landlords now borrowing 70 per cent of the purchase price of a property for buy-to-let mortgages - which is down from 74 per cent in the third quarter of last year.

ARLA also warned against buying off-plan properties, which it said "cannot make for a realistic buy-to-let investment proposition".

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