Buy-to-let 'has seen 30-fold increase'

Posted: 28 Jun 2007 16:44:44 GMT

The buy-to-let market has grown by 30 times in the last ten years, according to new research.

The buy-to-let market has grown by 30 times in the last ten years, according to new research.

Buy-to-let mortgage holders now take up ten per cent of the UK residential housing market, a study from ThePropertyInvestmentMarket claims,

There are around 850,000 buy-to-let mortgages currently outstanding, the company says, worth a total of £94.8 billion.

This compares with a total of just 28,700 mortgages ten years ago - a 30-fold increase.

"As a whole, investing in property has become much more prominent during the last decade as ordinary people want their slice of the action," commented analyst Gavin Davidson.

However, while the growth of buy-to-let characterises Tony Blair's time in office, the challenges faced by Gordon Brown are likely to be different.

"Looking forward to Mr Brown's leadership, he will be faced with the problem of how to keep the property market healthy. At the same time he needs to find a way of closing the gap between those with property and those without."

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