Buy-to-Let Research Report

[Editor]

Readers of Rosie Millard's column in the Sunday Times 8/9/06 will have seen the reference to a research report commissioned by ARLA on the tenth anniversary of its launch by ARLA - The Association of Residential Letting Agents. They say:

"Buy to Let has proved to be a force for good in the housing market and a major industry in its own right. This assessment was presented at No. One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, today (Sept 26), in a specially commissioned report, “Buy to Let, The Revolution – 10 Years On.”

Today over a million households live in Buy to Let properties. These property assets are worth well over £120 billion and the Buy to Let sector contributes over £30 billion to the economy each year. This contribution is worth more than that made by all the pubs, hotels and restaurants in the country and is over four times more than the contribution from the motor industry."

You can get the full report by Michael Ball, Professor of Urban and Property Economics at the University of Reading Business School on the ARLA website here

[welshgold]

allthough i am sure that there are many areas that it is still well worthwhile purchasing buy to let properties, and i would be interested to hear what the best returns investors are getting, I find that in my area prices have risen so much that to purchase a buy to let property the current rental returns would be less than 4% consequently whereas 10 years ago i was getting a return of 12 to 15 % my return now is 4 to 5% on current values of course at the moment i am finding the capital value is still increasing , but still to fund new purchases the return would not justify the cost