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London Buy To Let Investment In Recovery

The London buy to let property market is showing signs of recovery according to the latest data released from buy to let finance broker Commercial Trust.

London buy to let took a bit of a battering over the last year, largely due to the uncertainty caused by the Brexit fiasco. However, positive signs have been seen in the first quarter figures for 2019 from Commercial Trust.

According to the latest figures, the number of submitted purchase mortgage applications for the capital rose by 4 per cent on the previous quarter, propelling London back to its position as the leading region for buy to let business applications – 15.8 per cent of overall business, closely followed by the South East at 14.5 per cent.

This followed the last quarter of 2018 which had seen the South East overtake the capital for the first time, with London buy to let in second place.

Strong results were also shown for the East of England and the North West, enjoying an increase in the proportion of buy to let applications submitted during the first quarter. The same two regions shared top billing for buy to let completions over the quarter, with each contributing 13 per cent of overall completions.

Remortgaging continued to dominate buy to let applications, with 60 per cent of business coming from landlords looking to refinance.

Chief executive at Commercial Trust, Andrew Turner, commented: ‘The effects of Brexit have been keenly felt in London and perhaps the stalling of house price growth has to some extent created a buyers’ market for buy to let.

Our latest figures underline the importance of London and the South East within the buy to let market. For the first quarter of 2019, these two regions contributed over 30 per cent of our buy to let purchase applications, an increase from the 26 per cent recorded in Q4 of 2018.

Whilst it is good news to see increased activity in London, movement is not restricted to that area and both the North West and East Anglia have also increased their proportion of overall purchase business during the quarter.

With Brexit now pushed back to later in the year, the combination of low interest rates, a wide variety of mortgage product choice, stalling house prices and soaring tenant demand, many investors are of a mind to invest in the private rental sector.’

Source: Residential Landlord