New Breed of Landlord
Consumers who are considering renting their first home can relax. The younger landlords are showing that they are as responsible, or more so than the corporations, and less likely to be looking at the buy-to-let market as a get rich quick scheme, or a place to make an unscrupulous ‘quick buck.’
The National Landlords Association (NLA) said that the booming buy-to-let market is seeing younger landlords have an ‘increasingly professional attitude.’ New figures from the Mortgage Trust state that one third of the new buy-to-let investors are between 26 and 35 years-old.
Many of these people are taking advantage of house auctions, easy to obtain mortgages, and soaring rents, to build profitable wealth generating portfolios.
The NLA’s comments are in response to the government’s new Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) scheme, which is designed to protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords.
The law, a part of the 2004 Housing Act, now states that landlords are accountable for the proportion of their tenants’ deposit they withhold at the end of the tenancy.
Richard Gard, public affairs officer for the NLA said: “I’ve noticed that it’s the young buy-to-let landlords who are very keen to find out their responsibilities; they realise that they’ve got responsibilities and they also want to know their rights.
“We’re really emphasizing that landlords should join a reputable landlords association, such as ours. If not ours, then there are others out there.
“The cost of joining an association aren’t that high and there are benefits. At the very least, landlords can find out what’s coming up and what the legislation requires of them,” he added.