The Buy to Let market is still very young.  The phrase Buy to Let was only christened about 11 years ago when lenders were seeking to create a new product to sell to people looking at investing in residential property to be let.  The market at that time was very small and was only viewed by a limited number of lenders as a niche market to service.  Outside the London area the type of tenants usually occupying such properties were invariably students moving away from home for the first time and with a shortage of University supplied accommodation turn to the private rented sector for their accommodation.  Almost never did you hear of ‘a Professional Landlord'.

Superficially it is easy to assume to that most landlords have seen an opportunity for their money to grow through house price inflation but the truth is significantly more varied.  Pension companies and endowment providers have failed miserably in recent years to provide the returns promised earlier.  Stocks and shares have been more volatile than expected and anyone a more cautious nature consider bricks and mortar a safer long term investment.

In 11 years a lot has changed in the letting market.  We now see professional landlords with portfolios of more than 20 properties.  As competition between landlords has increase the return on a property has significantly decreased and is estimated to be around 1/3 of the return expected 11 years ago.  The letting market has not escaped the eye of the government who want to control the behaviour of landlords by introducing legislation to, among other things, controls the safety of furniture, safety of gas and electrical appliances and more recently the deposit protection scheme to safeguard the deposits paid by tenants.

Returns have declined while expenses and risk have increased.  Not surprisingly many landlords feel that their ‘cottage industry' approach to letting property is presenting measurable risk and now appoint professional letting agents to deal with properties on their behalf.  Let us not forget that in addition to professional lettings agencies managing your property in line with current legislation, your time is also available to go in search of the property bargains that are undoubtedly out there to add extra value to a portfolio.  4You Lettings are able to offer you peace of mind when it comes to legal matters and also offer:

• Free advice on potential rental income.
• If you are looking to buy:  Is the property in an area likely to see good asset value growth and strong demand?  Some properties are in short supply and therefore easier to let and higher returns are possible.
• Management of maintenance issues.
• Rent collection.
• Professional management at the end and an AST contract period for either vacant possession or a new tenancy agreement.
• Safety checks and certificates by qualified tradesmen.

The success of 4You Lettings is dependant on the success of landlords entrusting the management of their properties to us.  Our professional team of advisors will look forward to helping you formulate your ideas into a strong business proposition whilst focussing on the major issues of legislation and protecting your income.  Please feel free to call in at anytime and share a tea or coffee with us when you can find out more about how professional a leading letting agent really is.