Following the global financial crisis in 2008, UK real estate remained relatively strong, with values remaining robust when compared to the rest of the world.
Over the last 10 years, an unprecedented demand for housing coupled with rising property prices, has created a lucrative market for buy-to-let investors.
The UK is widely considered as a safe haven for property investors, attracting investment from buyers based domestically and overseas.
With both capital gains and rental returns expected to continue to grow in the years ahead, there are many reasons to be positive about investing in the UK’s property market.
In recent years, investors attention has shifted from the capital to regional markets, with Northern Powerhouse cities and London commuter belt towns offering some of the most exciting returns and growth on the market.
The UK’s property market offers diversity that stretches across different asset classes including Build to Rent, student accommodation and commercial property. The strength of the property market as a whole has allowed alternative property assets to present investors with higher yields than traditional buy-to-let investments.
Over the last decade, buy-to-let has had a significant rise to prominence in the UK property market, with the number of renters increasing all the time.
The rapid growth of the country’s population, including a 15% rise in the number of families formed in the UK over the last 20 years, has led to an estimated shortage of 300,000 new homes each year to help meet demand.
This large undersupply of housing, coupled with rising property prices, has allowed the private rental sector to flourish. Today, almost 5 million houses are privately rented in the UK, representing 19% of the country’s real estate market (Council of Mortgage Lenders).
With demand for buy-to-let property at an all-time high, there is real opportunity for property investors to secure strong rental returns in the coming years.
Purpose-built rental properties fit better into the lives of people more than ever before. They are considered more convenient, allowing renters to move fully furnished properties and providing the freedom should they wish to move to without selling their home first.
The Build to Rent sector fits perfectly into their lifestyle and developers now recognise the need to design projects with young professionals in mind.
This new generation housing is in areas where the largest demographics, students and young professionals, are working and studying, which means that they have convenient access to housing that allows them to develop the best work- life balance.