Buy-to-let business will rise this year, say three-quarters of brokers
02-14-2014
Mortgage Solutions
The vast majority of brokers are convinced they will do more buy-to-let business this year, as the prognosis for the market continues to brighten.
A survey of 501 mortgage advisers from NatWest Intermediary Solutions showed 74% expect to write more mortgage business for landlords, with 67% saying they had already seen an increase last quarter.
Looking forward to 2014, a quarter (24%) expect to do about the same and just 2% think they will do fewer buy-to-let cases.
Graham Felstead, head of NatWest Intermediary Solutions (pictured) said the survey results are not a surprise, but what is unexpected is the very high hopes for the sector's prospects.
"There are certainly good signs of balanced growth, which means both landlords and lenders will be viewing the market positively.
"We anticipate receiving more buy-to-let business from intermediaries this year. Last October, we improved our rental calculation, simplified our criteria and increased the proc fees (to 0.45%) for completed buy-to-let cases, making it more appealing for brokers operating in the ‘amateur landlord' sector."
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