The buy to let market continues to be the driving force for the majority of gross mortgage lending in the UK.  Unless you are a home purchaser with a huge amount of cash to put down as a deposit, combined with perfect credit, rental property is more than likely in your future.  The rental market is expected to stay quite active over the next few years due to the struggling economy.  Landlords are benefitting, but home buyers are not. 

Jonathan Moore, director of online rental accommodation website Easy roommate, commented on the current activity level of the buy to let market, saying: “The recent improvement in gross lending may seem like welcome news to buyers, but the increase has more to do with buy-to-let landlords taking advantage of the current rental market than a much-needed surge in lending to first-time buyers.

“Strict lending criteria and absurdly high deposit requirements are continuing to keep mortgage finance out of the hands of the average first-timer, and this is flooding the private rented sector with demand.

“Each month there are 17,000 more frustrated buyers than before the downturn having to rely on rental accommodation because they are unable to buy.

“This is driving up competition for accommodation in both the flatshare sector and the wider rental market. For many investors, these conditions are too attractive to ignore, and we are seeing growing investment in buy-to-let.

“While this may well alleviate some of the pressure on the current stock of rental homes, the supply will have to increase at a much faster rate to match growing demand and limit further rent rises.”