ARLA disputes rental repo claims

Posted: 15 Nov 2006 10:17:44 GMT

Preliminary statistics which claimed to show an increase in the number of buy-to-let properties being repossessed are wide of the mark, letting agents have said

Preliminary statistics which claimed to show an increase in the number of buy-to-let properties being repossessed are wide of the mark, letting agents have said.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures which emerged at the weekend were contradicted by more thorough research, said the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

"We are very disappointed that such stories about buy-to-let are being published on the back of little more than anecdotal information," said John Heron of ARLA.

"The facts on buy-to-let paint a very different picture with arrears and repossessions much lower than for the mortgage market as a whole," he told In2perspective.

Industry statistics showed that buy-to-let mortgages have lower levels of arrears than the overall market and that there are fewer repossessions than among residential mortgages.

Landlords are more able to trade through or in extreme cases sell properties before problems develop as they are not dependent on them as homes, said ARLA.

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