Bargain hunters prepare for ‘sudden flood of properties onto the market’

With some analysts predicting that buy-to-let landlords are about to flood the market with properties for sale, investors are being urged to ‘be prepared’ to take advantage of discounted property deals.

Abi Hookway, managing director of Touchstone Education, which runs courses for property investors, predicts that the introduction of the tenant fees ban in England this week will lead to a sharp rise in the number of buy-to-let landlords offloading properties.

Her views are supported by the latest data from ARLA Propertymark, which shows that the number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties in April hit the highest level for 11 months.

There was an average of five landlords per letting agency branch exiting the market in April, up from four in March.

The Tenant Fees Act came into force in England on 1 June, and this, coupled with the proposed scrapping of Section 21, is forcing landlords to either increase rents or leave the market altogether.

“Some landlords – already smarting from changes to the tax system that came into effect in January - may simply decide to vacate the market,” said Hookway.

Where landlords decide to sell up, Hookway believes that many investors will be well positioned to benefit from new properties becoming available for what she believes will be “below market prices”.

Hookway, added: “A sudden flood of properties onto the market in those areas could be good news for bargain hunters. 

“We’re already preparing for this shift, advising clients attending our regular mentoring groups to be prepared.

“We predict there will be more landlords who will want their properties managed by rent-to-rent and lease option managers or who want to sell their properties.”

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