I thought this was a very good article that covered the prospects for the Buy to Let (B2L) sector for next year so I have reproduced it in full and the original can be read here.  

Buy-to-let market positive for 2011

Commenting on the prospects for the sector over the next 12 months, Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Buy to Let mortgage specialist Paragon Group, said: “2010 has provided a solid base for the buy-to-let market on which to build over the next 12 months. Both the number of lenders and products has increased and gross advances are expected to be up at least 10% on 2009 numbers.

“I expect that positive sentiment to continue into the New Year. Gross lending will rise steadily during 2011 and, in the absence of any major economic downturn, should finish between 10% to 15% higher than 2010 levels. However, it will be some time before we see levels of lending that are consistent with ‘normal’ market conditions.

“Strong levels of tenant demand will continue into 2011, particularly given the Government’s planned changes to social housing, and this will provide the continued stimulus for the growth of buy-to-let lending.

“There will be strong opportunities for commercial brokers to meet the more complex needs of buy-to-let borrowers, especially for Houses in Multiple Occupation style property, where we see a growing market. As the Council of Mortgage Lenders recently stated, low levels of activity in the owner-occupier market will remain a feature in 2011 due to ongoing funding constraints, regulatory pressures and uncertain economic conditions, and this will create further pressure on the private rented sector.

“Landlords should profit from lower void periods and strengthening yields given rising rental levels and a flat housing market. I expect the buy-to-let mortgage arrears level to be flat to falling as landlords benefit from excellent levels of tenant demand and low borrowing costs, although landlords must be cautious of tenant unemployment and arrears.

“There will be a dislocation between the job losses caused by public sector spending cuts being ironed out by growth in the private sector and we are likely to see unemployment rise during the year. Landlords need to ensure that they have adequate rent guarantee insurance in place to protect themselves against defaulting tenants

We tend to agree with this lender’s sentiments, so if you have a proposition that is worth investigating do get in touch.

Many times the pervading view is that bargains can be had when buying at auction however, property auctions are not for the faint hearted and the risk can be that you go overboard in the heat of the moment.

Some bargains can be had at auction but usually only for those with the skills to capitalise, namely builders and developers who can add value to the stock and overcome the challenges that are often the reason why the property went into the auction in the first place.

I have seen 1st time buyers looking for a property that they can “do up” to live in but the fundamental point is that a lot are not mortgageable by standard means and often involve bridging for a short time until they are. A point to be aware of here is that some lenders, if strictly following the Council of Mortgage Lenders guidelines, may not be prepared to finance you out of the bridge for 6 months, so you need to know that the deal will stack up with 6 mths worth of bridging costs potentially being included.

A lot of stock ends up in the auction because there may be title issues, condition issues or in the case of a lender repossession they have to be seen to be getting the best price on the day, which the open auction is designed to achieve.

You also need to factor in that the 10% has to be paid on the day in cash (or draft) and you will lose it if you cannot complete because the fall of the hammer is deemed the actual exchange of contracts. Some auctions are also 14 day completion so watch out for those.

So what I would say is don’t discount it out of hand if you do not class yourself as experienced in these things, but do your own due diligence. Get the auction catalogues, select some suitable properties, view them critically, and decide what you think they are worth with all the tools that are available on the internet, go to the auction BUT DON’T BID! Just see what they go for and what sorts of people are buying them.

I would suggest you need to visit at least 5 or 6 auctions as an observer first to get a feel for things. If it is then right, surround yourself with the people who can help you, a capable broker like ourselves, a solicitor used to completing in auction timeframes (extremely important) who can also scrutinise the legal pack first, possibly a tame surveyor who might look at the property for you for a “drink” and maybe a builder who can give you the “warts and all” costs to turn the property into something that will have value.

The bane of my life is the amateurs who have watched only a few episodes of “Homes under the Hammer” or Sarah Beeny’s “Property Ladder” and think they can do anything.  Good luck to them if they enter into this sort of transaction, as long as they go into it with their eyes wide open, but many don’t, and remember the auctioneer’s guide prices are just to get people through the door and put “bums on seats”, they often bear no resemblance to what these properties may go for, but they alone obviously get some potential purchaser’s juices going.

We are often asked to help with funding auction purchases for commercial or investment purposes and we frequently need to resort to some form of bridging or short term funding to achieve that.  Do give us a call if you have seen something in an auction catalogue that catches your eye, but do it early on and we can do our best to guide you through the process should you intend to be successful bidding at auction.  Contact us here for further details.

Surveyors expect to see rent rises in the New Year as the number of rental properties coming onto the market fell for the first time since January 2008, says the latest RICS Lettings Survey.

The following from the RICS Website -

Shortage of new instructions bolsters rental outlook

• Tenant demand picks up speed but the new instructions net balance turns negative for the first time since the early part of 2008
• Downward pressure on rents appears to be easing with the forward looking rent expectations series moving smartly back into positive territory
• London is leading the turnaround in rental expectations followed by the North and the South East

Tenant demand for residential property picked up speed in the three months to October. A net balance of 16% more surveyors reported a rise in new tenant lettings over this period compared with 11% in the previous three months.

Within this aggregate figure, demand picked up particularly sharply for the renting of houses; the positive net balance in this sector of the market jumped from 6% to 22%.

Meanwhile, the net balance of respondents recording a rise in demand for flats remained unchanged, albeit still in positive territory, at 12%. More significantly, the latest survey shows the new instructions net balance to have fallen for the first time since the early part of 2008.

The Full Link to the RICS Survey download