Falling home sales to see rise in accidental landlords?
Posted by Sue Hopson
New figures suggesting that activity in the owner-occupier housing market is grinding to a halt could see a growing number of people considering becoming a landlord instead.
According to property market analyst Hometrack, 2011 could see the lowest level of housing turnover in 40 years.
Its data shows that just 840,000 home sales are expected this year - almost 50 per cent lower than the figure for 2007.
Furthermore, the analyst's latest housing survey showed that prices fell by 0.2 per cent in November from the previous month.
Prices are down by 2.3 per cent year-on-year and have fallen every month since July 2010.
Hometrack said this fall is due to a lack of supply, with homeowners increasingly reluctant to put their property on the market during the current economic climate.
It is also becoming increasingly difficult to find buyers in the current market, with the average time a house stays on the market for rising to 9.9 weeks in November, up from 9.8 weeks the previous month.
A consequence of this could be a rise in the number of 'accidental landlords' in the UK.
These are homeowners who have decided to let their property on the private rented market due to an inability to find a buyer in the current market.
With the buy-to-let market currently enjoying rising demand and landlords seeing ever rising rents, this could also prove a lucrative move.
In addition, lending for those investing in buy-to-let properties has become much easier to access in recent months.
Gavin Elley, relationship manager at Mortgages for Business, said recently: "There is competition for rental property. First-time buyers who traditionally would have bought a property are now looking to rent. That has skewed lenders' thinking in terms of buy-to-let. Going forward, we will see more lenders entering the market. That is a very positive thing for a landlord."
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