The forecast reveals buy-to-let intermediaries have an upbeat market view and believe suggestions of a slowdown to be unfounded. Despite recent evidence of a slowdown in the growth of buy-to-let lending, 68.1 per cent of respondents believe that they will write more business over the next three months than the previous three.
Intermediaries also forecast house prices will rise in the next three months, up from 22 per cent in the January survey to 29.5 per cent. Brokers continue to expect that loans to existing landlords will form the bulk of their business (45.2 per cent) but remortgaging remains a strong part of their targets, with intermediaries forecasting 37.5 per cent of business coming from that sector
Nicola Severn, marketing manager at Mortgage Trust, said: “Our buy-to-let survey reveals brokers remain optimistic about the sector over the next three months. This may be partially due to the government’s decision to include residential property in SIPPs from April 2006, widening investment opportunities for the buy-to-let investor and potentially injecting a new momentum into the housing market. Although existing landlords will not be able to easily transfer their current properties into SIPPs, the prospect of capital gains in the medium term may prove an attractive boost to their portfolios.”
Chris Tonkin from ABC buy-to-let said: “Professional investors are positive about medium-term growth in capital values following the pensions reform; add to this a steady growth in the number of remortgages and the story for buy-to-let lending looks very positive.”
Andrew Haywood, senior policy officer at the CML, said: “Buy-to-let is maturing, with landlords becoming more experienced and professional and is making an important contribution to the private rented sector as a whole.”
