Landlords make huge contribution to local economies -...

New research from specialist lender Aldermore reveals the financial boost landlords provide to local economies.

Nearly eight out of ten landlords opt to use tradespeople based near their rental properties, spending on average £6,003 a year each on local services.

The most common services landlords look locally for include electricians (52 per cent), plumbers (50 per cent) and handymen (34 per cent) to sort ongoing maintenance issues with their rental properties.

Meanwhile, many landlords are opting to shop local for a wider variety of professional services.

Around one in seven also opt to use local interior designers and structural engineers, while a similar amount use local architects.

A desire to support the local economy is the main reason why landlords use local services (37 per cent). Meanwhile a third shop local because they trust local services. And again for almost a third of landlords local tradespeople provide a deeper insight into the local area and, in turn, can give them better advice.

However, in a challenging economic environment, three in five landlords are looking to downsize their portfolio – as a combination of high interest rates, falling house prices, regulation changes and cost-of-living pressures have made being a landlord unsustainable for some.

Indeed, almost two thirds of landlords are finding it harder to be a landlord this year compared to 12 months ago.

This comes at a time when demand for rental accommodation is high, with nearly three quarters of landlords seeing an increase in tenant demand for their property in the last year. While some landlords would like to expand their portfolio, almost two thirds are unable to due to market conditions.

With many landlords considering divesting from the market, the private rental sector could see greater strain.

Nearly seven in 10 believe private landlords exiting the market will hurt the quality of properties available. Meanwhile, a similar number of private renters feel the private rental sector is essential to meet the UK’s housing demand.

Jon Cooper, head of mortgages at Aldermore, comments: “Amid a backdrop of ongoing market challenges – from high interest rates through to regulation changes – some landlords are considering downsizing their portfolios.

“However, there will be plenty of larger-scale, professional landlords that will instead look to purchase more BTL properties. This should, over time, provide useful ballast to the private rental sector.

“Landlords remain absolutely vital to addressing the UK’s housing demand. Our data shows they’re generous contributors to their local economies as well. Whilst they sometimes get a bad press, there are so many good landlords out there making a really positive difference.”

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