I read some research recently that showed the number of landlords in the UK had grown by 27% in the last five years.
It was London based estate agent Ludlow Thompson who produced the figures showing the number of landlords had risen for the fifth consecutive year and that on average they own 1.8 investments each.
This shows that, despite the uncertainty around the property market as a whole, landlords continue to see the residential as a sound investment. The research showed annual returns on investment of almost 10% since 2000.
There was more to interest landlords in other recently published research and reports. Property Partner, for example, looked at the significant recent changes in the buy to let sector, in particular the phased reduction of mortgage interest tax relief.
This first hit in April last year and caused investors a big financial shock. According to the Property Partner research, 64% of their respondents reported that their finances had been impacted negatively by the change.
Finally, Bank of England data has shown the buy to let sector is still remaining strong. According to their figures 12.7% of mortgages granted in the final quarter of 2017 were to buy to let investors. This is a healthy chunk of the mortgage market but does show a slight decrease from the 14.4% recorded a year earlier.