With confidence on the wane in H2 2012 according to latest data, should UK landlords be bullish or bearish in 2013?
According to new figures released by Upad, the leading online lettings agency, a mere 63 per cent of landlords remain bullish on the outlook for the UK private rental sector in 2013, a drop of nearly 10 per cent compared to this time last year.
Upad’s latest Landlord Confidence Index (December 2012) reveals that whilst confidence overall in the UK buy-to-let market remains positive, not all landlords may be quite so bullish in 2013.
James Davis, CEO of Upad, comments,
“The overall trend for 2012 shows a decline in confidence in the 2nd half of the year (barring an Olympic blip) as economic growth failed to pick up – generating concerns about tenant’s personal finance with bank lending continuing to be challenging and increases in rental values slowing.
“The problems affecting the wider economy are highly unlikely to disappear in 2013 with the recent snow even tipped to trigger a triple-dip recession, so for that reason I suspect landlords to be cautious about over-exposing themselves. However, that said many of our landlords do appear to be in a far stronger place than might have been anticipated a couple of years ago.”
Indeed, this more optimistic outlook for the next 12 months is supported by IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer who explains that despite the lack of confidence, falling house prices and low interest rates, on-going demand for rental property in the UK and higher yields have created the perfect environment for UK landlords to thrive with over 8% achievable in some UK cities such as York, as revealed by Zoopla last week.
The Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) has also seen an upward trend in landlord investment over the past 12 months with the number of buy to let properties owned by landlords rising to eight in Q4 2012, up from seven at the beginning of the year.
Be they bullish or bearish, first and foremost in landlord’s minds should be the avoidance of void periods in 2013 as this will directly affect their yields. And for those looking for an innovative new way to find tenants then the UK´s market leading online lettings agency, Upad, is the answer. Standing out from the crowd, Upad specialise in helping professional tenants rent properties from landlords directly by allowing landlords to manage their own viewings. As a result, Upad receive around 20,000 tenant enquiries per month.
Upad offers a complete lettings service for a flat fee of only £299 (+ VAT) which includes professional photography and a floor plan, a ‘To Let’ board erected outside the property and advertising across all major UK lettings sites as well as comprehensive tenant referencing, drawing up of the tenancy agreement, deposit registration and crucially, rent collection. For more information please contact Upad, on 0333 240 1220 or visit www.upad.co.uk.