Growth of buy-to-let industry over the last few decades bodes well for the future

Buy-to-let investors will have been pleased to see our research from earlier this year which shows how fast the number of households renting privately has grown. It was one of the most popular stories of the year and certainly bodes well for the future of the sector.

Our research revealed that, 25 years ago, there were only 2 million households renting, now there are 4.5m renting. The value of buy-to-let properties now stands at approximately £1.4trillion.

In that time, there has also been signficant growth in the amount of mortgage products available to prosective buyers - particularly buy-to-let landlords!

This long term growth underscores the strong fundamental aspects of the private rental market that we have always talked about, a consistent lack of supply coupled with strong demand. The underlying strengths of London have only become more prominent in the past couple of decades and look positive going forward.

Businesses are continuing to expand their operations in the capital - driving not only inward investment, but also - of importance to landlords - creating job opportunities. As we have always said, the private rental sector is vital to ensuring labour mobility so that individuals are able to start those new jobs quickly with shorter commutes than they would face without it.

But it's not just young professionals and new families that ensure a steady supply of prospective tenants for landlords, but also the thousands of national and international university students that come to study at one of London's world class universities.

In addition, the continuing expansion of the capital's 'always on' transport network - such as the Night Tube - further expands the potential range of areas that renters are able to look at, particularly in Zones 2 and 3.

Going forward, growth in the private rental sector already looks strong with the latest research the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors showing rents over the next five years could rise by 15% nationally.

The possibility of an agreeable Brexit agreement for London, should help maintain London’s appeal as a go-to relocation destination for overseas professionals, graduates and students alike.

Whilst acknowledging that the Government has reduced some of the tax relief available to buy-to-let landlords, predominantly through changes to tax relief on mortgage interest payments, and the wear and tear allowance, the cost of professional fees, repairs, service charges and insurances remains largely intact indeed on average landlords claimed £2,272 in tax reliefs in 2016/17.*

Stephen Ludlow, Chairman of ludlowthompson, says: “The strong long term growth in the private rental sector and positive forecasts mean there has never been a better time for investors to invest and grow their current portfolios.”

“Given the time of year, now in particular is a good time for buy-to-let investors to think about expanding their portfolios. There is often plenty of activity in the sector in January as tenants start new jobs and look to move.”

*HMRC

Here is a selection of recent reviews of happy customers of ludlowthompson via Google reviews:

-          Sue Fei Tan on Google Reviews

“We are overseas landlords so it is important for us to have people we can trust looking after our property in Finsbury Park. Daniela Gomes ensured our flat was rented quickly when tenants changed recently. She was very responsive to our questions and was very helpful. Highly recommended.”

-          Nikhil Thapar on Google Reviews

“Extremely helpful and quick at sorting am issues we had when renting our new home. Their online management system is brilliant and I felt comepety in control the whole time which I usually don’t find when letting.”

ludlowthompson maintains its transparency by encouraging customer reviews across a number of platforms. Over a three-year period we were ranked as the number 1 agent in the UK on allAgents.co.uk out of 15,000+ agents, with 5200+ 5* reviews, and we are also linked with Feefo - independent review company and global Google Partner - giving the customer another place to search for independent reviews of ludlowthompson and the individuals that work here.