The shrewd buy to let capitalists who were looking for small well priced properties and rent at a sensible level should have a relativly smooth ride. as the demand for affordable rentable housing is on the increase.
The greedy money grabbers who over extended their finances,taking morgages at 125% etc welcolme to the dole queue.

I agree with oswald..

but as i have said before...

Its a balancing act...I now pay more for my BTL's but i pay less for the property....so it is no different for me than it was 2 years ago.

IN Fact i am now buying a property every week!! How can i refuse at the prices i am buying at, i make £100-150 pcm on every one at the moment even at 80% LTV.

And again we are not building, ie lowest number of bricks produced since 1940s, so my friends.. all those who want to listen to propaganda, keep listening and stop buying please,.....so i can buy loads of cheap property!!

Capitalism is built on supply and demand....at the moment supply is getting worse and in the future this will mean demand will be higher!!

Anyone who calls me a greedy developer talks rubbish, if i dont buy someone else will,Thats why capitalism is (was) successful.And i create jobs for people with families.

Andye... so glad to hear times are good..

I have been considering ploughing some personal inheritance money into property investment.. call me cautious, but I have chosen not to at this present time. My reason boils down to the fact that people will, in the face of rising costs of living, only pay for a commodity what they think it is worth, and what they can afford. So the days of making a "quick buck" I feel are over.

When it comes down to the bottom line, people in the City and the rest of UK in banking and finance (those young model professionals that Buy-to-Let landlords so crave) are increasingly joining the numbers of the dole-queues... food and energy costs are rising , add that to the certain higher personal taxation and council taxes we wil all undoubtedly suffer as a result of the government "bank bailout".

So, suddenly you will have the 'model' tenants defaulting on their rent agreements... & you are facing a big problem.

The company i work for, amongst most others in the field, have picked up on this scenario.. and will no longer lend against Buy-to-let, also taking into consideration the steep downturn in the property markets.

Even at 'reasonable' rates of rents, with no A1 tenants to fill the properties, once conveyancing costs and mortgage redemption fees are taken into consideration, that 80% Buy to let mortgage may not seem such a great deal in hindsight when there is no other option than to sell property.

That said, I hope you are fortunate and savvy enough to have got on the bandwagon at the right time..and good luck with your ventures!

Jules

Interesting point of view! but people have to live somewhere and if they cannot pay the local council will. As they do to me at the momment.

I will get say £550 pcm for a family of four, but if the council put them in a B&B it will cost £400 per WEEK.

So its in the best interest of the social welfare system to place them with me? Also as i have said "Supply and Demand" not enough houses? So where will empty properties come from?

I dont rent to Young professionals as they tend to buy at a later date, i rent to people with no choice but to rent for the long term and provide them with top quality at an affordable price that more than covers my BTL.

As for your company not lending to BTL, I would say they are probably scared and are partly responsable for the crunch.

My partner and I bought a second property in June of this year. Everyone around us told us we were mad and should wait until the prices had dropped even lower. My answer to this - the sooner we buy it the sooner we can have tenants in it. The property wasn't purchased to give us a monthly income, but to sell in 35-40 years time when we retire. The tenants who have moved into the property are are a middle aged couple who have recently sold their property and want to enjoy and spend the equity they had in their owned property. Its not just young proffesionals and people who can't afford to buy who are renting. We are fully aware that we might have to pay more for the property in years to come when we remortgage but we plan to save a pot of money over the next couple of years with this in mind.

I don't think we are greedy, just wise to the fact that our pensions are no guarantee for our future so we need to have our fingers in more than one pot as it were. For this reason, in the near future I will be looking to rent out my property and purchase a third for us to live in. I don't think it is the end of buy to let - how can it be when there still is and always will be such a large demand out there.

Whilst funding options are now being withdrawn from BTL Landlords, and agnst ridden brokers desparately clamour for any meager brokerage, a certain band of cash rich investor is set to prosper.
I have worked in finance for 20 years and have seen 3 major crashes, I learnt from the first, profited from the second and now am consolidating investments to fund a spending spree through the third.
Things will bounce back......In the early 90's property dropped twice what I expect them to drop this year but ended up 5 times higher, Building firms are stockpiling land until prices see new build as economically sound again, as a nation we have stopped building but we have not stopped teenagers having babies and needing housing, we have not stopped divorce meaning one family now needs 2 homes, and we have not stopped wanting to own our own little castles so first time buyers are still out there. Buy the cheap houses put housing benefits recipients in them, until the market improves then refinance or sell...My opinion anything under £75000 with 2 bed in ok area is a no brainer BTL.
Have faith watch for a bounce...