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Good news for long-term landlords

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Source: Catherine Deshayes

There are many uncertainties in the property market, but one thing that remains constant is the simple piece of advice given to all those investing for buy-to-let purposes: Be in for the long haul.

All too often the ill-advised will snap up a home expecting to make a quick buck before finding themselves disappointed and out of pocket. This is likely to have been the case particularly over the last couple of years, as values have sharply declined.

However, shrewd investors with long-term goals in mind will not have been put off by the trend and may in fact have taken the opportunity to build their portfolio for the future.

And they could now be set to see those choices pay off as Mark Garner, managing director at Letting Zone, has suggested that prospects are good for the long-term landlord.

Despite expressing concern over the fact that rental arrears are up and employment levels are expected to continue falling, he explained that "the future looks very good".

"Most professional landlords who have been in it for years will be on tracker mortgages, so therefore they will be reaping the full benefit of the lower base rate and their cash flow business will be very healthy at the moment," said Mr Garner.

"Obviously at some point ... interest rates will go up, so landlords need to take measures to protect themselves in the future from that, but rates will probably stay low for another year yet."

Source: Assetz