Around 44% of landlords intend to acquire new BTL properties over the next 12 months, revealed the latest survey carried out by Landbay.
According to the data, this is an increase from last year’s survey results, when only 32% said they would buy properties.
The majority of landlords — six out of 10 — keen to acquire more BTL properties intend to do so to build a property portfolio.
Meanwhile, 31% are looking to buy more dwellings due to an increase in the number of tenants they have, and 12% want to take advantage of a potential drop in house prices.
Most respondents who will buy are portfolio landlords, with 40% owning 11 or more properties, and 42% having between four and 10 properties.
Nevertheless, smaller landlords are also looking to purchase, with 19% owning one to three properties.
Regionally, a higher proportion of investors in the South East (28%) said they were intending to buy another property.
Landlords’ confidence levels were similar in the Midlands, east of England and in the North, with just under a quarter of respondents in each area confirming their intentions to buy new BTLs.
Meanwhile, only 13% of landlords said they’d by new properties in London.
However, 40% of survey participants said they were not keen to acquire new investment dwellings, with just under 30% saying they were actually looking to sell some properties over the next 12 months, as they are concerned about fluctuations in mortgage interest rates, difficulties in evicting tenants and landlord taxation.
Rob Stanton, sales and distribution director at Landbay (pictured above), commented: “Despite the various pressures faced by landlords, there is still an appetite for further house purchases.
“The increase demonstrates the continued attractiveness of BTL as a long-term investment strategy, which is supported by the strong demand for rental properties.”
