Landlord yields up

The quarterly survey of landlords that tracks developments in the UK’s buy-to-let market and wider private rented sector, also shows that 30% of landlords predict that tenant demand will rise over the next 12 months. It also revealed that nearly one in 10 landlords has purchased buy-to-let property in 2009, yet 43% of landlords state that a lack of mortgage finance is the main obstacle to expanding their property portfolio.

Commenting, John Heron, Paragon mortgages’ managing director, said: “Landlords are telling us that they want to buy new property because they recognise that yields are increasing, but the lack of available finance in the buy-to-let mortgage market is making it difficult. Until more is done to increase lenders’ access to funding, we could see the private rented sector enter into a period of stagnation because landlords are struggling to buy.”