Lack of Competition from Social Housing Fuels Buy-To-Let Boom

A lack of new social housing is slamming the brakes on a potential competitor to the buy-to-let juggernaut, according to a lettings agency, which claims that the number of investors rose by 120,000 in a year and net incomes for landlords went up by 8% in the same period.  In 2012/13, according to the latest HMRC data available, there were 1.63 million buy-to-let investors, up 120,000 on the 1.51 million of the previous year, according to Ludlow Thompson. Furthermore, the firm said the net income – rental income minus all costs – of these investors reached £13.1bn in 2012/13, 8% higher than the £12.1bn net income in 2011/12. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.