The growing popularity of buy to let in the UK has been underlined with news that there are now more than 1,000 financial products available for landlords, according to Moneyfacts.
The website says this is the first time that more than 1,000 buy to let mortgages have been available since April 2008.
Moneyfacts says that landlords can choose from 1,011 buy to let mortgages which has rocketed from the 460 products that were available two years ago.
Alongside the rapid growth in buy to let mortgage choice, there’s also extreme competition in interest rates from lenders.
In 2008, the average buy to let variable mortgage rate was 6.84% – the same rate today is 3.6%.
Rate for a buy to let fixed-rate mortgage
In addition, the rate for a buy to let fixed-rate mortgage today is now 3.8%, down from 7.34%.
The organisation says that landlords wanting to fix a two-year deal can find a mortgage at just over 2%.
Charlotte Nelson, from Moneyfacts, said: “With poor savings rates and higher rents it’s no wonder that buy to let is booming.
“The number of finance deals have hit the 1,000 mark for the first time in more than seven years.”
She added that one reason for the boom is that lenders appear to be keen to attract the growing number of pensioners wanting to utilise new pension freedoms to invest in property.
Landlords with rental properties in the UK
In addition, the future for landlords with rental properties in the UK looks strong with a report from accountants PwC highlighting that more than half of households in the UK will be renting by 2025.
That’s an increase from 5.4 million rental properties today to 7.2 million within 10 years. It’s also a big rise from the 2.3 million rented properties in 2001.
One reason for the rapid growth is that rocketing house prices have priced the younger generation out of the market.
Call to ban rogue lettings agents
Meanwhile, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is calling for the government to ban letting agents who do not belong to a client money protection scheme.
They say that rogue agents should be banned from the lettings industry and this should include sales agents who have been banned from their industry from also working in lettings.
In addition, ARLA says that all agents should have professional qualifications and undertake continuous professional development.
The call comes after ARLA responded to a call from the Department for Communities and Local Government on a planned paper to tackle rogue landlords and improve the UK’s private rented sector.
In a statement ARLA added the need for tougher laws: “Fines issued by courts currently are low and provide a limited deterrent to criminal landlords.”
