Property Investor Confidence Continues

Property investor confidence continues to remain high.

Property investors appear to be maintaining confidence in the UK real estate market, according to a recent survey undertaken by Shawbrook Bank, who are one of the leading “challenger” banks in the marketplace, providing bridging, development finance and buy to let funding, along with a range of normal banking services.

A new survey undertaken by Shawbrook Bank, which focuses on the outlook for 2017 from property professionals and the expectations they have for their own investments, found that 81% of landlords feel confident that their property portfolios will perform well this year.

Many property investors are feeling broadly confident about the prospects for the property market, thanks in part to improvements in the lending environment, Shawbrook said.

Helping to boost this optimistic outlook, investors revealed that tenant demand remains strong with nearly one out of three (30%) landlords seeing an increase in renters when comparing the first half of 2016 to the second. As well as this, half of all buy-to-let landlords have also seen increasing rental income over the last year.

This feeling of confidence extends to property professionals looking to invest in the buy-to-let market, with 66% of respondents stating that they plan to acquire an additional buy-to-let property during the first half of this year, in spite of various tax changes and potential political upheaval following the Brexit decision.

Karen Bennett, managing director of commercial mortgages at Shawbrook Bank, said: “Despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit, landlords are still optimistic about the performance of their portfolios. With Brexit negotiations officially underway, as well as recent changes to housing policy, it is encouraging that the market doesn’t seem to be slowing.

“Following last year’s tax changes it’s clear that investors are still getting a feel for how the changes will affect them.

https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/4/property-investor-confidence-runs-high?source=newsticker

Matt Lenzie of Hertfordshire Business Funding says: “it is an interesting time from an economic perspective with some focus on the recent tax changes and how these are going to impact. In the short term there won’t be a huge amount of impact, as these will only start to bite when investors start to file their personal tax returns. It is very important that private investors and buy-to-let landlords do start to consider this today, as otherwise they could have some lean years ahead.

 

A number of the leading lenders in the market are taking less aggressive positions in the facilities which they are providing, with a shortage of funding above the £1m per unit mark, as there is some concern that stamp duty costs will reduce the momentum in this area.

Critical for all developers and buy-to-let landlords is buying well, and we firmly believe that there is and will continue to be some value to be achieved if you look hard enough.”

from Hertfordshire Business Funding https://www.hertfordshirebusinessfunding.com/property-investor-confidence-continues/
via https://www.hertfordshirebusinessfunding.com
http://hertfordshirebusinessfunding.blogspot.com/2017/04/property-investor-confidence-continues.html

Bridging Finance Confidence Grows – Despite Brexit

Theresa May has now, as you are no doubt aware, triggered the formal process of the UK leaving the EU, and the view of the markets is mixed. There’s the pessimists as ever, who believe that the risks associated with the UK having to navigate the forthcoming choppy waters are not fully priced into the markets, and then there are those who firmly believe that the process is a breeze. Interestingly the situation with Spain and Gibraltar looks to be the first of many negotiation points which will no doubt ruffle a few feathers.

Anyway, in the UK lenders appear to be increasingly confident regarding the bridging market as reported by Mortgageandintroducer, which is interesting, as there is potential for some buy-to-let owners to begin to feel the squeeze post 5th April as the interest cover tax changes start to bite.

Bridging lenders are becoming increasingly confident about the sector’s prospects despite the recent triggering of Article 50, Association of Short Term Lenders research has found.

As it stands 85% of ASTL lenders expect their own volumes to increase in the next six months, while 56% expect the bridging market as a whole to increase.

Regarding the future prospects of the UK economy 45% are confident, up from 35% in November and 28% last April before the EU referendum took place.

Aspen Bridging joins ASTL

Among other members one in five (21%) were not confident about the UK’s prospects in the next 12 months, down from two thirds (67%) immediately after the referendum.

Benson Hersch, chief executive of the ASTL, said: “Good results in Q1 of 2017 have caused lenders to be more positive about the future.

“The ASTL should continue to grow in both numbers and influence as recognition of the sector spreads. Bridging finance has come a long way and, whilst there will no doubt be ups and downs, it’s here to stay.”

Source: http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/bridging-lender-confidence-growing-despite-article-50/#.WOP4m3TysWo

It really is a guessing game, and private investors and institutional funds alike appear to be able to earn good returns on their capital through investing in bridging, although this market has fundamentally expanded during a boom cycle. We are now 6 or 7 years into this boom and frankly it’s time for a correction in property prices, and Brexit could well be the trigger of this.

 

from Hertfordshire Business Funding https://www.hertfordshirebusinessfunding.com/bridging-finance-confidence-grows-despite-brexit/
via https://www.hertfordshirebusinessfunding.com
http://hertfordshirebusinessfunding.blogspot.com/2017/04/bridging-finance-confidence-grows.html