According to the National Landlords Association (NLA) there are three types of landlord: professional, amateur and accidental. Amateur landlords run their property portfolio part-time, typically using this extra income to supplement their main job. However, research carried out by the NLA has revealed that there are now more amateur landlords in the UK than ever before.
What is the Profile of a Part Time Landlord?
A typical part-time landlord has four properties and enjoys an annual gross income of £31k, of which a quarter is spent on maintaining his properties. More than 40% of amateur landlords have bought their properties using buy to let mortgages and most of them say that it is now easier than ever to secure finance.
Boosting the UK Private Rented Sector
An army of private buy to let landlords currently boosts the UK housing market to the tune of £20 billion and thanks to historically low interest rates many more are likely to be jumping on the bandwagon soon. Indeed, buy to let investment is viewed as a good way of supplementing a pension and/or saving for the future, but despite the apparent buoyancy in the buy to let market amongst amateur landlords, the NLA has a few words of warning to impart:
Being a landlord can be very rewarding but it’s vital that anyone considering a move in to buy-to-let, or indeed looking to expand their portfolio, is thoroughly researched and aware of what it involves. A part-time landlord typically has a day job so it can be a very challenging task to keep on top of managing and maintaining homes for people whilst juggling the demands of daily life.”
