Over half of UK investors no longer view property as a good investment, according to a new survey commissioned by Rathbone Investment Management.
The introduction of an extra stamp duty levy as well as new regulations by the Prudential Regulation Authority affecting landlords has led to many investors re-evaluating property as an investment, according to Rathbone.
Those investors with over £100,000 of investable assets were slightly more optimistic about the property market, the research found, with only 38 per cent viewing it as a poor investment.
The survey showed that a quarter of high net worth investors currently own buy-to-let properties; however, just seven per cent plan to increase their portfolio.
The Rathbone survey comes in the wake of research by the National Landlords Association which reported in January that 20 per cent of its members planned to sell a property in their portfolio in 2018.
Robert Szechenyi, investment director at Rathbones said: “Recent changes to the tax and regulatory treatment of buy-to-let has caused investors to take a step back and assess the viability of these investments.”
Property has traditionally been a popular investment across the UK, with 49 per cent of Britons surveyed by the ONS saying that investing in property instead of a pension was the best way to save for retirement.
However, Szechenyi said this may be about to change.
“Whilst it’s understandable that property, and in particular residential property, has been a popular investment in the past, it’s now making less and less sense,” he said.
“Not only are the returns now being impacted by an increased rate of tax, but they can also prove high risk investments due to a lack of diversification.
“Property investments require a large amount of capital to be held in one single asset and landlords will often hold a number of properties within one region.”
The research from Rathbone comes as data from Rightmove published today found that asking prices in London were down 0.2 per cent in May compared to the same month last year.
Source: City A.M.