Buy To Let investors

Buy-to-let investors 'snap up homes in London'

New-build homes in London are being acquired by savvy buy-to-let investors, it has been claimed.

A report for the Greater London Authority (GLA) which focuses on the housing market has indicated that investors are snapping up many new-build properties.

Tim Crane, the co-author of the report, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that investors are seizing their opportunities to buy these desirable homes.

"House prices have risen and as owner-occupiers have been priced out of the market, the investors have stepped in and taken up the demand slack at the price that new-build homes go for," he commented.

"We have seen a complete shift in the industry's focus from selling to owner-occupiers to selling to investors."

Recent research from Bradford and Bingley revealed that the average buy-to-let investor is aged between 36 and 45 and has a portfolio of up to five properties.

Additionally, it found that landlord confidence is still high and more than half of respondents said they are planning to increase their portfolios in the next year.

The GLA report states that two-thirds of all new-build homes in London are purchased for buy-to-let investment rather than by someone who will occupy the property.

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