Buy-to-let landlords 'unlikely' to be hurt by rate rises

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 13:44:00 GMT

Potential interest rate rises are not expected to have a major impact on landlords.

Buy-to let landlords may be lucky enough to avoid being hurt by interest rises, according to one property expert.

Independent property industry expert Malcolm Harrison said that should the Bank of England choose to increase interest rates, buy-to-let landlords will probably remain unaffected as the base rate is so low to begin with.

He noted it is unlikely that there will be a "vast jump" in rates.

"At the moment, we have such a low base anyway and I don't think anybody is expecting interest rates to go back to where they were," he said.

Commenting on the letting market in general, Mr Harrison observed that it used to be quite common for buy-to-let landlords to be on fixed-rate mortgages but as interest rates fell, they switched to tracker deals to save cash.

Recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that the letting market grew by seven per cent last year.
 

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