Property investors to expand portfolios

Some 63% of investors will need to remortgage existing properties to fund their expansion and 62% believe that lenders are not doing enough to support landlords.

One in five felt that lenders should reduce their fees in order to support property investors.

Another 18% believed that lenders should increase loan to value ratios and 15% felt that lenders should grow the number of case-by-case lending decisions rather than rely on computers and credit scores.

Four fifths of property investors intended on investing in vanilla buy-to-let property over the next six months, 22% plan on expanding their portfolios with Houses in Multiple Occupation and 15% with Multi-unit Freehold Blocks, both of which provide higher average yields for investors.

Some 14% intended on investing in commercial or semi-commercial property which also average higher yields than vanilla investments.

David Whittaker, managing director at Mortgages for Business, said: “Although overall mortgage and lending to first-time buyers is finally starting to increase, landlords remain confident about the future of the private rental market and plan to expand their portfolios over the coming months.

“However more and more investors are exploring which options will give them the best returns on their investment.

“While vanilla buy-to-let properties remain popular, more complex deals are offering higher yields on average and are growing in popularity, particularly because of the shortage of housing stock currently on the market.”