Rental continue to boom

The Guardian reflects on the continued boom in demand on rental properties.

Swings and roundabouts...... a poor sales market is balanced by a strong rental market making property investing a good two way bet for the long term investor.

I expect rental demand to continue to grow as the sales market continues to suffer, and would not bet against further large falls in property prices.

Property price twitter -freezing

It's so cold out there.......

Why house prices could fall another 20 percent - Telegraph
House prices stutter downwards in November - EAT
House buyers face a double squeeze - Telegraph
House prices fall again - November - BBC
House prices to fall 2.7 percent says OBR - Telegraph
Bloomberg video on house price outlook - Bloomberg


See all the property price tweets

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BTL mortgage update

The latest figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), showing continued growth in the buy-to-let mortgage market, offer good news for landlords looking to purchase new properties. The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported a 33% increase in the value of buy-to-let lending in quarter three 2010 compared with the same period last year, and a similar trend in loan size was seen in the latest analysis of Property Hawk Mortgages applications.

The increase in mortgage value is likely to be a reflection of the gradual recovery of property prices and the availability of some higher loan-to-value buy-to-let mortgages (up to 80%).

New and established lenders have entered the market providing more products, increasing competition and better choice for property investors. There have also been announcements of further entrants to the market including a high street bank and more specialist lenders.

There has been a fair amount of movement in the buy-to-let mortgage market recently, with BM Solutions releasing some market-leading products for one-week only and Godiva providing some attractive no-fee deals for a short period too. Short-term offers may become more commonplace in the buy-to-let mortgage market as lenders endeavour to micro-manage their lending quotas.
Landlords would be wise to keep a close eye on the mortgage market if they are looking to purchase new properties, as the market-leading rates may only appear for brief periods.

Property Hawk Mortgages provides a free online buy-to-let mortgage finder which is updated daily, giving access to the latest deals available.

Click here to use our free buy-to-let mortgage finder

Rental voids fall by 15%

According to letting agent LSL Property Services the average void period amongst the landlord portfolios that they manage has fallen by 15% over the year.

In October 2009 the average rental remained unoccupied for 36.4 days per year but this dropped to 30.9 days in October 2010.

On top of this their research shows that landlords expect this trend of falling voids to continue. with nine in ten landlords expecting void periods to be lower than four weeks in the next 12 months.

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BTL Mortgages - most popular

Most popular buy-to-let mortgages

Interest Rate	Overall Cost for Comparison	Max LTV	Product Detail	Completion Fee	Early Repayment Charges
3.88% Tracker	4.1% APR	75%	Variable tracker rate of BBR + 3.38% for the lifetime of the loan. This product is available up to 75% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 100% at a notional rate of 8.5%. An application fee will apply. Available on a repayment basis only. The completion fee is payable at offer stage. Refer all cases for fees, maximum LTV and loan amounts.	0%	1% of original balance being repaid for 1 year
4.1% Tracker	5% APR	60%	Variable tracker rate of BBR + 3.60% for 2 years then reverting to a variable of BBR + 4.24% to give a current rate of 4.74% for the remainder of the term. The product is available up to 60% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at the payrate. An application fee will apply.	1.5%	3% of amount being repaid for 2 years
4.69% Fixed	5.2% APR	60%	Fixed rate of 4.69% until 31/12/2012 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate (SVR) which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term.This product is available up to 60% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at 4.99% (SVR). An application fee will apply. Free legal fees for remortgages.	£999	4% of original balance being repaid until 31/12/2012
4.8% Fixed	5.2% APR	75%	Fixed rate of 4.80% until 01/02/2013 then reverting to a variable of BBR + 4.24% to give a current rate of 4.74% for the remainder of the term. The product is available up to 75% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at the payrate. An application fee will apply.	2.5%	3% of amount being repaid until 01/02/2013
4.8% Tracker	5.5% APR	75%	Variable tracker rate of LIBOR + 4.00% for 2 years then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate of 4.60% + 0.25% = 4.85% to the end of year 5, then for the remainder of the term, the lender's standard variable rate of 4.60% + 0.75% = 5.35%. The product is available up to 75% LTV and the rental calculation is 130% at a notional rate of 7%. Please note that the completion fee will increase by 0.25% on applications for HMOs, freehold houses split into flats and limited companies. An application fee will apply.	2.25%	3% of amount being repaid for 2 years
4.99% Fixed	5.5% APR	80%	Fixed rate of 4.99% until 29/02/2012 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 80% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	3% (min £595)	5% of amount being repaid until 29/02/2012
4.99% Fixed	5.4% APR	75%	Fixed rate of 4.99% until 28/02/13 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 75% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 125% at the pay rate. An application fee will apply.	2.5% (min £595)	5% of amount being repaid until 28/02/2013
5.19% Fixed	5.2% APR	70%	Fixed rate of 5.19% until 31/01/2013 then reverting to a variable rate of BBR + 4.50% to give a current rate of 5.00% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 70% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at a notional rate of BBR + 4.50%. An application fee will apply. Max loan £150,000.	£995	3% of the amount being repaid until 31/01/2012, then 2% of the amount being repaid until 31/01/2013
5.29% Fixed	3.7% APR	60%	Fixed rate of 5.29% until 02/03/2013 then reverting to a variable rate of 2.49% over BBR to give a current rate of 2.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 60% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply. Available to ex-pats and foreign nationals.	1.5% (min £1500)	6 months interest at the Buy to Let Standard Variable Rate or fixed rate whichever is higher until 02/03/13
5.5% Fixed	5.7% APR	75%	Fixed rate of 5.5% for 2 years then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate of 4.60% + 0.25% = 4.85% to the end of year 5, then for the remainder of the term, the lender's standard variable rate of 4.60% + 0.75% = 5.35%. This product is available up to 75% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 130% at a notional rate of 7%. Please note that the completion fee will increase by 0.25% on applications for HMOs, freehold houses split into flats and limited companies. An application fee will apply.	2.25%	5% of amount being repaid for 2 years

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice.
Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Please visit www.propertyhawk.co.uk and click on Mortgages to search the full product range and find a buy-to-let mortgage to suit your specific personal circumstances.

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages. The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

Rental sector predicted to grow

According to Ed Stansfield, chief property economist at Capital Economics the proportion of the nation living in rental accomodation could rise to 17% of households from the current 14% in the next 5 years.  This is up dramatically from the 10% at the begining of the decade.

The increase in number of renters is being driven by issues of affordability.

He expects house prices to continue to fall back to levels that make home ownership more affordable.

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