60 per cent of tenants stay put
A Staffordshire estate agency has predicted a brighter outlook for buy-to-let homeowners after a new report revealed that more than 60% of tenants expected to remain in rented accommodation in the coming year.
Heywoods Property, based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, said that a combination of low interest rates and a healthy supply of people wanting to rent provided encouraging signs for buy-to-let landlords throughout 2010.
The company put the figures down to a number of factors, including a shortage of properties to buy and prevailing restrictive mortgage conditions, which were still making it difficult for many people to get onto the property ladder.
Heywoods said that a great many of the people who lived in rented accommodation still aspired to owning their own home.
However, it added, the current high deposits demanded by mortgage lenders and the unrealistic expectations of homeowners, which were driving up asking prices, meant that renting was providing a sensible and economical alternative to home ownership.
The report published by Rightmove revealed that 61% of those questioned thought they would continue to rent for at least a year, with 55% expecting to remain in rented property for up to three years and as many as 31% believing it would be at least three years before they could afford to buy.