Survey reveals split on B2L regulation.
Posted on July 13th 2009
Exact has carried out a detailed survey on the BTL market for its latest White Paper and is based on the responses of 549 brokers, topics range from should the BTL market be regulated to where gross rentals yields are likely to stabilise. One of the interesting facts is that 54% of brokers think the BTL market should be regulated, a subject which I wrote about in last week’s column.
Of course on the flip side 46% of brokers do not think BTL should be regulated suggesting the mortgage market is of yet undecided. Other interesting responses are that 39% of brokers have stated that they have seen an increase in demand in BTL business and that 55% of BTL investors believe now is a good time to buy property specifically because house prices are not likely to fall much further. 68% believed that gross rental yields will stabilise at between 4-6% so there is plenty to write about on the positive side.
Other responses of note are overall 83% of investors believe now is a good time to buy property but on the downside the biggest risk they foresee is the lack of mortgage finance available. Worryingly 20% of BTL landlords could only afford the mortgage payments for 1-2 months if they have void periods but that is countered by 67% who could last 3-6 months and the remainder being able to last 6 months or more. There is also a question that relates to a correlation between negative equity and handing back keys; 38% of brokers believe the average BTL investors would not hand their keys back preferring to ride out the downturn. You can download the White Paper and results of the research from www.exact.co.uk. (Percentages correct at time of writing this column).
