Blair's buy-to-let legacy
News Category: Industry News
Published: 28-Jun-2007
In the decade that Tony Blair was prime minister, the buy-to-let market in the UK increased by up to 30 times, a new report suggests.
Research from ThePropertyInvestmentMarket.com shows that there were around 850,000 buy-to-let mortgages in the UK at the end of 2006 - compared to just 28,700 less than ten years ago.
The report suggests that low interest rates during MR Blair's time in office, and policies like the abolition of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement (AST) encouraged more people to become landlords.
Despite this growth, the report indicated that the UK still had one of the smallest private rented sectors among the world's industrialised nations.
"The changes to the AST and better borrowing rates offered the reassurance needed to encourage buy-to-let investors into the market and has encouraged investment in residential property through a variety of means," explained Gavin Davidson, the property director of the website.
"Looking forward to Mr Brown’s leadership, he will be faced with the problem of how to keep the property market healthy. At the same time he needs to find a way of closing the gap between those with property and those without."
Several organisations have said that Mr Brown must act to try and increase the supply of available housing for both landlords and people looking to buy their own home.
