Complex Buy To Let
Half of HMO landlords use property as sole source of income – Landbay

Half of landlords with a house in multiple occupation (HMO) property or portfolio use this as their only source of income, a survey found.
Research from buy-to-let (BTL) lender Landbay found 30% of the landlords polled had a HMO property or portfolio. Within this, 72% owned HMO properties through a limited company and half did not have any other source of income.
Landbay’s research also found that nearly half of the landlords with HMOs self-managed their properties, including a third who had more than 20 properties.
The lender said the reason landlords were managing their portfolios themselves could be down to the number of properties they held, with 34% having between four and 10.
The survey found that the highest proportion of HMOs held by landlords polled were in London and the South East at 47%, followed by the East Midlands.
One HMO landlord who took part in the study commented: “Our company is very happy with our portfolio performance in London and we intend to continue, at least for the present.”

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Rob Stanton, sales and distribution director at Landbay, said: “Our survey results show continuing confidence in HMOs. Despite proposed rental reforms and local authority licensing schemes, the market remains resilient. With an ongoing housing shortage, demand is stronger than ever for decent and fairly managed house shares.
“HMO landlords have received a boost from falling utility bills. This means higher net rental, which can make it easier to borrow a greater amount against the property’s value. In addition, council tax banding for individual rooms in shared houses has been reversed, so HMOs are classed as a single dwelling as before.
“As long as investors do their research thoroughly before making the leap, HMOs can give great returns.”