Landlords Return To Buy To Let

There has been a big jump in the number of landlords who are returning to the buy to let market after they have come to terms with the extra costs being imposed, says one estate agency.

According to haart, the legislative and tax changes led to lots of landlords offloading their properties but they say this trend is now reversing.

This comes three years after the 3% stamp duty surcharge was introduced on additional homes.

The firm says that landlord registrations have increased by 8% in England and Wales between February and March.

They also add that there is a 12% increase in London landlords returning to the market.

Landlord numbers registering to buy

The chief executive of haart, Paul Smith, said: "Our branches saw monthly increases of 7.9% in the landlord numbers registering to buy, a figure that's been growing since the beginning of 2019.

"Sale prices to landlords, interestingly, are down by 12% on the year, which may be spurring this activity on. These price decreases could also be causing available stock to fall in the lower stamp duty threshold so makes the stamp duty levy easier to stomach."

He added: "Landlords are not back in their hundreds, despite this, and the number of registrations is still 22% down on the year."

Mr Smith says a growing number of landlords are recognising that there is still value to be had with buy to let property, particularly when compared to the stock market.

Record high for rental stock availability

Meanwhile, Arla Propertymark says that the supply of rental properties grew in March to reach the highest figure since they began keeping records in 2015.

The figures reveal that the number of homes for rent increased to 203 per member branch from February's figure of 197.

This means that supply is, year-on-year, up by 13% with demand from prospective tenants also increasing.

There was also a slight small in tenants experiencing rent rises with 30% of letting agents saying landlords have put up rents compared with February's figure of 34%.

Also, the number of landlords leaving the buy to let sector remained at four for each branch, up from last year's figure of three.

The firm's chief executive, David Cox, said: "While it is positive that property numbers per branch reached a record high, it may a sign of consolidation ahead of the Tenant Fees Ban with agents either merge or sell up.

"Coupled with landlords leaving the sector and rents rising, means the picture overall is not positive for tenants."