Boom month for buy to let
A North Staffordshire estate agency believes that the outlook for the buy-to-let market is looking brighter, after new figures revealed that both rents and property prices increased throughout March, while simultaneously tenant arrears hit a welcome two-year low.
According to the latest buy-to-let index from residential property services group LSL Property Services, UK rents crept up by another 0.1% last month, representing a second consecutive monthly rise and an overall increase of 1.5% on this time last year.
At the same time, tenant arrears have continued on a downward trend, falling to just 10.1% of all rent - the lowest level since LSL first starting compiling the index two years ago.
Meanwhile, latest statistics from Rightmove showed another increase of 2.6% in property prices in the five weeks to 10th April.
Heywoods Property of Newcastle-under-Lyme said that there had been signs in recent months that rents were about to increase and that the LSL figures were the latest to confirm this.
The company added that the combination of steadily rising rents with falling arrears and increases in underlying property values augured well for the buy-to-let sector.
And as the economy began to pick up, it concluded, fewer tenants were getting into financial difficulty. And that was clearly good news for buy-to-let landlords, who could expect more of a secure return on their investment.