Lending confidence unchanged by Brexit

Confidence is reflected in the proportion of investors looking to buy an additional buy-to-let property over the next year.

Investor confidence in the UK lending environment remains unchanged, according to a commercial client poll published by Shawbrook Bank.

The survey reveals 57% of property investors are feeling confident or fairly confident about the lending environment over the next six months, compared to 58% in January 2016.

Confidence is reflected in the proportion of investors looking to buy an additional buy-to-let property over the next year. The figures demonstrate an increase to 58%, from 56% in January 2016, suggesting Brexit has not had an immediate impact on people’s future investment plans.

Despite this, 32% of investors still cited Brexit as the biggest challenge to be faced by the group over the next year.

While many remain uncertain of the impact Brexit will have (44%), 42% think the result will negatively impact property investors. Only 14% believe the result will have positive implications.

Property investors are less confident about the prospect for the UK economy with 48% of respondents fairly concerned or very concerned about the economic outlook, an increase of 19% from six months ago.

In January 2016, 67% of property investors predicted a small increase in property values and 6% predicted a small decrease. The latest figures reveal that 42% are anticipating a small decrease in prices and only 21% are predicting a small increase over the next 12 months.