The latest survey by a mortgage broker company specialising in buy to let properties, shows that along with the rest of the nation, landlords are showing signs of apprehension about what may lie around the corner.
The survey by CHL Mortgages reported that, although the majority of landlords are still optimistic about the future of the buy to let market, the number has dropped from 81% to 64%, quite a significant shift in the space of 6 months.
Landlords looking to invest in new acquisitions for their portfolio, dropped 10% to 28%, while 66% of residential landlords say they have no intention of buying new properties, up from 53% in the last survey.
Almost half of the landlords taking part in the survey said lack of finance precluded them from extending their portfolio, while 30% said the reason for not buying more properties was that lenders were asking for higher deposits and generally offering worse deals than in the past.
The managing Director of CHL also put the drop in optimism down to uncertainty caused by the new Government, saying “While the CGT issue has been put to bed following the Emergency Budget in June, the issue of the regulation of buy to let and whether it becomes part of the FSA’s regulatory patch has yet to be decided and this has only been exacerbated by the decision to disband the FSA itself and the huge regulatory shifts we are about to see. It is therefore entirely understandable that landlords are adopting more of a wait and see approach with both the overall future of the sector and in terms of their own plans to add to their portfolios.”
He added “That the survey reflected the strength of the professional landlord. Whereas many novice landlords have fallen by the wayside, landlords who have taken care to protect their assets by having landlord insurance and making sure paperwork and regulatory demands are adhered to have prospered.”