Recent research from Paragon found that three quarters of landlords (74%) intend to buy property in the next a year plan to use a limited company structure. This is the highest recorded by the survey and is up from 62% in the first quarter of this year.
This statistic very much reflects our experience, which is that while many ‘dinner-party’ landlords may have left the market in recent years, those that remain are serious about their investment and diversifying their portfolios.
The last 12 months may have been challenging for the market, but we are already seeing increased customer demand to meet an improving appetite from lenders, as investors recognise they have a window of opportunity to grow their portfolios in a relatively quiet property market.
The difference between the buy to let market today, set against one a few years ago is that those landlords who have remained active in the sector, built portfolios and professionalised their operation. Now buy to let is their business and not something they will walk away from just because of a few bumps in the road.
With a more business-like approach to buy to let, we are also seeing more landlords look to diversify their investments, exploring opportunities like HMOs, multi-unit lets and holiday lets, as well as refurbishment projects and semi-commercial investments.
At Brightstar Financial, we have a wealth of expertise across these areas and, where appropriate we can work in partnership with our colleagues who are experts in bridging and commercial finance to help secure the best result for a client. So, if you are serious about helping your landlord clients to build and diversify their portfolios, pick up the phone and speak to us about how we can use our expertise and contacts to put them in the strongest position to do so.
