Buy to let market healthy

As reported in the Telegraph earlier, Bradford and Bingley the mortgage specialists have conducted a survey and found that in fact the higher interest rates “have no impact” on the longer term health of the buy to let market.

The survey found that more than half of all land lords still intend on enlarging the size of their property investment portfolio. Only 4 per cent were considering actually realising some of their assets and decreasing the size of their portfolios over the next six months.

Would you believe that the most popular place in the UK to buy property to let is Brighton, with almost a third of land lords surveyed, owning a property within the limits of that costal city. The recent spurt of growth is believed to be fuelled by the huge student population and the fact that it is so close to London. It is technically only 1 hour by train from the centre of London.

Hailed as the "jewel in the South East's crown", Bradford and Bingley claims Brighton is "enjoying the fastest rate of growth" at the moment, driven by its large student population and close proximity to London.

The majority of land lords who were surveyed are "everyday people" seeking capital growth and a means to supplement their ever diminishing pension reserves.

The Director of Mortgages at Bradford and Bingley, Andy Wiggans, said "Higher interest rates may have an effect on cash flow but they have no impact on long-term capital returns."