Landlords still confident in buy-to-let

This is according to Upad.co.uk’s latest Rental Confidence Index. This result is unchanged from the same poll conducted the previous month.

Survey respondents who left comments reflected a generally positive outlook, but stressed continuing problems with legislative changes and issues around benefit payments. Comments from those who said they felt more confident than last month included:

• Rents are starting to rise. The new supply of rental properties will stay low until lenders start lending again.
• I had a tenant for my rental property after just one week. Interest was keen with renters prepared to pay more than the advertised rent to secure the property.

Comments from the 39% saying they felt less confident in the market included:

• Landlords have no rights. Changes to housing benefit payments have meant tenants not forwarding the payments to the landlord.
• I neither like the proposed legislation, nor the old legislation on securities.

Upad's founder and CEO James Davis commented: "For the fifth consecutive month since we launched the Landlord Confidence Index, landlords have expressed their renewed confidence in the rental market. We had expected a shaky month, due to the implementation of regulatory changes, the Budget and uncertainties over the General Election, but these results show that for landlords who are prepared to treat buy-to-let professionally as a business, the market remains buoyant."