Landlords Running Buy-To-Let Goldmines
Renting Property Costs More Per Month Than Buying It!
A study by mainstream mortgage lender the Halifax has revealed that renting a property now costs over £130 per month more than the monthly cost of buying a property.
UK landlords are holding on to Buy-To-Let goldmines as not only can they command premium rental prices from tenants but they can also guarantee the rent and remove the worry of tenant default.
Halifax’s latest research has shown that owning property was more affordable than renting in the UK Private Rental Sector (PRS) in all 12 of the UK regions.
On average, people buying property pay 18%, (£132, per month) less on average than those renting, due to rental prices increasing and the perceived fall in property prices and the rates of UK mortgage approvals having fallen.
However the revelations seem to be falling on deaf ears as demand for rental property in the UK Private Rental Sector (PRS) is at an all time high with up to 10 tenants competing with each other for a single tenancy. Landlords are using professional tenant referencing to select the most suitable candidates from among all the applicants to ensure they end up with the best tenants for their property.
So why the demand?
Obtaining a mortgage can be difficult for many people and with lenders tightening both financial and personal criteria for lending, it is leaving the majority of renters unable to apply or even able to afford a mortgage.
The average monthly costs for buyers of a typical three-bedroom house, including maintenance and repair as well as the mortgage, was £600 (GBP) in June 2012 compared with £732 (GBP) in rental payments on the same type of property in the PRS.
The Halifax said “Rent payments have risen steadily over the last few years, increasing by 5% in the last 12 months, as buying costs fell by 3%. Four years ago the average cost of buying and owning was 45% – £324 – more than the average monthly rent paid”.
However, there has been a 33% drop in new buyers in four years as lenders push for ever higher deposits with £40,526 (GBP) being the average loan-to-value at roughly a quarter of the property price.
