Despite ongoing concerns that the increase in BTL is pushing FTBs out of the market, Alliance & Leicester’s research showed 42 per cent bought landlord-owned properties while nearly a third of the properties (29 per cent) were sold to existing or new landlords.
Overall, one in ten (10 per cent) landlords sold a letting property in the last two years.
Jeremy Claridge, head of specialist mortgages at Alliance & Leicester, commented: “It is heartening to see that first-time buyers are benefiting the most from the sale of buy-to-let properties with nearly half having bought from a landlord. With many believing the boom in buy-to-let has priced first-time buyers out of the property market, the research highlights it is not all ‘doom and gloom’ for first-time buyers. Instead, they are the group gaining the most.”
Of the landlords who sold in the last two years, the average ownership tenure was three and a half years with a quarter (27 per cent) of landlords making a return of more than 30 per cent on their letting property in this time. Only two per cent of these landlords reported a loss on their property.
Claridge added: “The research paints an optimistic view of the buy-to-let market with all but two per cent of landlords, reporting they have achieved capital growth on their properties when sold in the last two years. While this upbeat picture might be true of times now, recent figures have shown that house prices are slowing so landlords would do well to ensure they plan carefully for all eventualities.”
