Industry News
May 10, 2018
Buy-to-let remains a ‘popular’ and ‘dependable’ investment in our area
While the outlook for savers is looking disappointing, many people in our area continue to invest in the tried and tested route of bricks and mortar which generally offers high returns, especially as far as the buy-to-let market is concerned, as many investors benefit from both rental yields and sometimes increasing property prices.
Rita Tinney, Director for Keats Estates and Keats Letting Limited, provides an overview of the current lettings market.
"Situated on the Surrey, Hampshire and W. Sussex borders, our Haslemere sales and lettings operations have seen investors return to the market during the first quarter of 2018, taking advantage of the good supply of small one and two-bedroom homes being released by second time movers who now need to trade up to a family house.
"The best yields at the moment are being generated by one-bedroom units which are the most consistently popular with renters and are also a great way for new buy to let landlords to ‘dip their toes’ into the property market without having to use all their capital in one go, or raise large buy-to-let mortgages.
"Prospective investors are coming from a variety of avenues with some investing pensions, others releasing equity from their current home and younger entrepreneurs who are buying their way into the market while still living at home with Mum and Dad.
"Build-to-rent is also returning with one local developer about to release 12 new, luxury commuter apartments onto the rental market through Keats Letting. These will be a mixture of generously proportioned studio and one-bedroom apartments within easy access of the station and will be available to occupy from early June.
"For us it’s great to see investor confidence returning and while at the moment there is a relatively good yield providing you buy wisely, we all know that the UK housing market moves in upward spirals (usually over 10 years although this has slowed since 2006) and that capital growth will follow in the next few years."
