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Landlords are flocking to expand their portfolios as falling house prices create more bargains and low rate mortgages mean more opportunity for rental profits.

The latest figures from Mortgages for Business indicate that landlords are piling in to the housing market. In January, remortgaging existing mortgages comprised 45% of the mortgage broker’s buy to let transactions while only 55% of mortgages were arranged on new purchases.

Six months later and just 35% of the buy to let mortgages that Mortgages For Business writes are remortgages, while the proportion devoted to new purchases has risen to 65%.

David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business says: “These figures indicate landlords are eager to capitalise on the downturn in the housing market. Buy to let landlords don’t want to be caught napping as an upturn gains momentum in the near future.

"Our transaction figures offer some hard stats to flesh-out some of the anecdotal evidence we’ve been hearing about green shoots and a turnaround in the housing market. Increased confidence in the buy to let markets suggests landlords expect the green shoots to take root in the foreseeable future.”

If you think the time is now to increase your buy to let portfolio, stop and think. Can you afford the extra responsibility? Can you manage an extra property? Will another property work with your current portfolio?

The only person who can answer those questions for you is a mortgage adviser. They will be able to sit you down and assess your current situation, helping you plan for more buy to let properties. They may tell you to go for it or they may tell you to hold off – but whatever a mortgage adviser does tell you you know it will be a fair, impartial piece of advice.

SOURCE: MFB, 29/06/09

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