Findings from BM Solutions quarterly buy-to-let index revealed 24% of landlords rated the economy’s performance as good or very good in Q4 2014 compared to 37% in the previous quarter.
Landlords remained largely positive in their outlook for their own letting business.
A net 67% of landlords rated their own business’s expectations for the next three months as good or better. The net figures is the increase in those with good or better expectations minus the decrease.
As such, landlords are becoming more acquisitive and the research found almost one in five landlords purchased a property in Q4, with three in 10 intending to do so in 2015.
This trend is noticeable even with the very smallest landlords (one property) with one in five looking to expand their portfolios in the next 12 months.
Phil Rickards (pictured), head of BM Solutions, said: “Landlords continue to have faith in their portfolios and in tenant demand with rental arrears and voids at historic lows. This is filtering through to their expansion plans and we’re seeing a high proportion expecting to grow their portfolios in 2015.”
Rental voids fell to an all-time low in Q4 of last year with just three in 10 landlords reporting experiences of void periods.
Tenant demand remained high with 37% of landlords reporting demand had increased in Q4 whereas only 7% found tenant demand to have declined.
Demand is reported as being particularly strong in outer London, the east of England, and the South East, where more than two in five perceive it to be rising.
Central London saw the largest positive increase in landlords reporting increased demand in the last quarter with the number seeing an increase in tenant demand up nine percentage points on Q3. At the other end of the scale, in Wales the net increase of landlords reporting increased demand was down 11 percentage points to 29%.
