‘We’re seeing more diversification in the holiday let market’ – Castle Trust

Speaking on Specialist Lending Solutions TV, sales director at Castle Trust, Robert Oliver said the lender had seen a difference in the types of people applying for holiday let loans. 

He said: “Here at Castle Trust we’ve noticed in the last three to four months that our enquiries for pure holiday let have actually gone up by circa 45 per cent.  

“Now, we’re seeing a slight diversification in landlords applying. However, it’s fundamentally the buy-to-let investor who is still in search of a good investment.” 

Oliver said investors were still looking for opportunities in office conversions, houses in multiple occupation and multi-unit blocks, but added that there was “more of a diversification to the holiday let market”. 

He also said clients were taking more time to understand the differences between holiday let management and the running of a buy-to-let property. 

Dak Lam, senior associate at Sirius Property Finance, said he had also seen more interest in the sector. 

“What I’ve found is a lot of people who are looking at holiday lets are often [for] dual purpose. So not only are they looking for investment, but they are also looking for something they can perhaps utilise themselves, as a family,” he added. 

Damian Cain, director of Complete FS, said the growth of the holiday let market reminded him of the nineties, where brokers were nervous about getting into the buy-to-let market as it was seen as “too niche”. 

However, he said it was not surprising that the sector was attracting attention from “savvy investors” drawn in by the favourable yields and suspected it would eventually become a mainstream area of business.

Watch the video below [10:44] hosted by Shekina Tuahene, commercial editor of Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions, featuring Robert Oliver, sales director at Castle Trust; Dak Lam, senior associate at Sirius Property Finance and Damian Cain, director of Complete FS.