The future of buy to let is in the hand of build to rent companies ready to spend billions on rental homes to cash in on growing demand from tenants who cannot afford to buy their own property.
International property firm Knight Frank says big companies like financial firm Legal & General have already ploughed £39 billion into developing more than 110,000 private rented homes that include add-ons like communal gyms, pools and lounges.
Knight Frank estimates build to rent will grow to 560,000 homes by 2023 and developers are ready with another £36 billion of investment.
Most of the money is earmarked for London due to higher demand to rent.
Damp, crowded and cold homes need to improve
Living conditions are better but still need to improve for buy to let renters in homes that are damp, overcrowded and lack insulation.
The English Housing Survey 2016-17 points out that the average landlord earns at least £15,000 a year from letting property yet one in four homes fail the government’s decent home standard that sets a minimum state of repair tenants should expect.
Tenants in 392,000 private rented homes live with damp, while 186,000 homes have condensation and mould issues.
Where to find the cheapest city living
Britain’s most affordable city homes are in Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Stirling, Scotland, where a home costs 4.4 times the average wage of £34,366 or £151,000.
The most affordable English cities are Bradford and Lancaster, while Swansea tops the rankings for Wales, says the survey by Lloyds Bank.
At the other end of the table, Oxford in the least affordable city with an average home costing £460,000, which is 12.6 times the average wage.
Letting agent jailed for stealing £300,000
Lettings manager Robert Parker faces 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to the theft of £302,000 cash that he spent on a luxury lifestyle.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Parker, 28, spent up to £50,000 a day with online bookies.
The cash was stolen from Nina Letting Agents, Barry, South Wales, where he managed 300 letting properties and handled money paid in as rents and deposits by tenants.
