Buy-to-let business seems to be growing at a sustainable rate according to research commissioned by West One Loans, the privately funded bridging lender.
Three out of every five brokers say growth is ‘Moderate’ or ‘Fast’ (61%), compared to just two out of every five (40.2%) back in February.
The growth in BTL business is reflected in brokers’ customer profiles. 38% of brokers’ bridging customers are now landlords, compared 37% six months ago. The increase has been driven by demand from professional, rather than amateur landlords, with professional landlords now representing 25.4% of brokers’ bridging customers, compared to 23.3% in February.
Duncan Kreeger chairman of West One Loans said, “I am pleased to say that the growth in buy-to-let business seems to be steady, rather than explosive at the moment. We aren’t seeing a massive increase in the number of brokers saying buy-to-let is booming – this is a moderate, sustained rate of growth. The long-term macro-economic picture appears to back that up. Given the current housing shortage, buy-to-let should represent a sound investment for the future. But professional landlords are finding it difficult to get access to finance from high street lenders. Even when they can – it’s painfully slow. Over the last six months, they have woken up to the fact that bridging loans provide a rapid solution to their problem. And as property investors embrace bridging, brokers are seeing the benefits.”