Landlords 'looking to expand'

The vast majority of buy-to-let landlords are planning to add to their portfolios, a new study has indicated.

According to research from mortgage services provider Exact Mortgage Experts, 83 per cent of brokers believe that their buy-to-let clients are looking to buy more properties.

More than half said that a perceived bottoming-out of the housing market is the reason that landlords are keen to invest further.

Alan Cleary, managing director of Exact Mortgage Experts, suggested that the banking crisis, which has seen lending tighten up, could actually be beneficial for landlords.

"With so many people cut off from getting a mortgage, be they first-time buyers or people with less than perfect credit records, the UK's private rented sector will inevitably have to pick up the slack," he said.

"That means there's money to be made by landlords."

However, Mr Cleary did acknowledge that the same lack of loans was hindering landlords from expanding, given the "severe shortage" of buy-to-let mortgages available.

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