Buy-to-lets 'never been better' for long-term landlords

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 11:50:54 GMT

Professional landlords who purchased properties more than three years ago will now be able to reap the rewards of their investment, one expert suggests.

Mark Garner, managing director at LettingZone, says: "For existing professional landlords, it has never been better because interest rates are at an all-time low so with the property you bought a while ago, the cash flow is looking really good."

However, he states that those who jumped on the property bandwagon in the last three years but did not have the necessary cash to fund their investment are now finding they have "desperate problems".

Mr Garner's comments come in response to recent data from IVA.com, which shows there has been a 53 per cent increase in the number of buy-to-let investors struggling to pay their mortgage.

He advises that some tenants are defaulting on their rent payments, meaning landlords do not have sufficient funds to pay their creditors.

Therefore, it may be wise to take out a full rental guarantee on all the lettings and perform the necessary reference checks before agreeing to a tenant moving in, Mr Garner suggests.

According to LSL Property Services, the average rent in the UK has risen by 3.2 per cent since February 2009.

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