News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the August / September 04 issue RPI news archive

'Sensible approach' by landlords - August / September 2004

Buy to let lending continued to grow in the first half of 2004, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported.

At the end of June, there were 473,000 buy to let mortgages outstanding, worth £46.8bn, compared with 417,500, worth £39bn, at the end of 2003.

Even though the number of loans advanced was 6 per cent higher than in the second half of last year, and their value 3 per cent higher, growth was slower than in the preceding six months.

Arrears in the buy to let sector are continuing to run at around half the level of the mainstream home buying with only around one mortgage in 240 experiencing arrears of three months or more. The average maximum that lenders will agree to lend remained unchanged at 80 per cent of the value of the property. On average, lenders also required rental income to be 30 per cent higher than monthly repayments.

'The figures indicate that investors are taking a sensible approach and adjusting to tighter market conditions following recent interest rates rises', said CML's director general Michael Coogan. 'Buy to let will continue to offer attractions to landlords who research the market properly and invest for the long term'.
 

other artilces from the August / September 2004 issue

• Licenced to charge
• Fitness certificate proposed by RLA
• 'Sensible approach' by landlords
• Built-in flood resilience to be required
• Crackdown on estate agents
• Landlords striking better deals
• Conservative plan the 'right to own'
• 'Natural segregation' affects house market
• Spreading the risk
• Watch out for the tender tax trap