An expert has said demand for rental homes is higher in the south than in the north.
Landlords seeking competitive home credit products such as tracker mortgages for residential properties they wish to rent could be well advised to purchase houses in the south of the country, if one expert’s comments are anything to go by.
According to Malcolm Harrison, spokesman for Let Insurance Services, there is currently a higher level of demand for homes in southern areas of the UK than in northern regions – meaning that people searching for properties to use on a buy-to-let mortgage basis may wish to take advantage of this trend.
Mr Harrison explained that the popularity of this part of Britain is being driven by an “increasing demand all the time and a shortage of property to buy”, as well as the fact that the country’s wider mortgage market is now “very difficult” for both first-time buyers and those with small deposits.
The expert was speaking following the publication of data from LDG, an estate agency which specialises in houses in the West End region of London, which found that there have been more letting agreements in 2010, as well as a significant hike in the price of rentals over the same time period.
This research, published last week (November 30th 2010), also revealed that the West End rental sector had been particularly buoyant in the last 12 months.
Laurence Glynne, partner at LDG, commented that this trend is expected to continue in 2011 “as there are still a large amount of would-be buyers in the rental market”, coupled with the fact that the demand for quality rental properties in the West End “currently outweighs supply”.
But while this may be positive for landlords with the capital to purchase homes in that region, Mr Harrison warned that less well-off consumers may be forced to consider purchasing elsewhere in the country if costs continue to soar.
Meanwhile, the number of mortgages being agreed fell in October, stats have shown.
Fewer people are taking on home credit deals such as tracker mortgages in Britain at the moment, new figures have shown.
According to data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the declines in both the volume and value of mortgage products being agreed between consumers and financiers that were predicted by many analysts have come to fruition as 2010 draws to a close.
Statistics from the body show that borrowing for remortgaging and purchases of residential properties went down by four per cent to £6.7 billion in October compared with one month earlier.
Meanwhile, this figure also represents a drop of 16 per cent in comparison to October 2009.
Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, commented: “A stable but small lending market will continue for some time to come.”
This comes after Richard Tolchard, senior mortgage product manager at first direct, said that consumers should look to secure such deals before Christmas.
