Buy to let; one man's investment dream, another man's lack of opportunity to get on the property ladder?
Whatever you think of buy to let, there is no denying that it is an important part of the housing market.
The number of buy to let mortgages still available to landlords has fallen by nearly 85% in the last 12 months, despite an increase in demand for rental properties.
Price comparison site moneysupermarket.com has revealed that the last month alone has seen a 40% drop in the number of buy to let mortgages available.
Louise Cuming, of moneysupermarket.com, spoke about their findings:
"You would imagine this would mean the buy-to-let market would start to grow. However, our research shows the number of buy-to-let products has decreased from 4025 to 674 in just one year, with nearly 600 of these products removed since March 31. As stringent lending pushes people into the buy to let market, the decrease in the number of buy to let mortgages becomes increasingly alarming."
When you hear something like that, it comes as no great surprise that nearly
5% of people have been forced off the property ladder since last October and are now renting.
This is due to number of factors such as tightening of credit criteria, higher product prices, lenders' demands for ever increasing deposits and general uncertainty over market conditions.
These factors mean that for the foreseeable future, owning a home is a luxury that is out of reach of increasing numbers of us.
In addition, more than 11% of you had plans to get a mortgage but said you could no longer afford to or were put off by higher deposits, and a third of you said you simply can't afford to buy now.
With all this in mind, is renting looking like the best bet for you to ride out the effects of the credit crunch or is it still worth buying?
Why not let us know what you think in the comments below?
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