The Intermediary – June 2025 - Flipbook - Page 34
BUY-TO-LET
Opinion
here’s a lot of negativity
in the wider press
recently regarding
landlords. How they
prevent first-time
buyers geing on the
ladder. How portfolio landlords
contribute to a housing shortage.
How people shouldn’t profit from
housing people.
It’s easy to jump onto this argument
and say how it’s unfair – but in the
property market, landlords are an
absolute necessity. Not only are
landlords now going to be providing
a beer living environment for
millions of tenants across the country
with upcoming Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) requirements, but
they are also a key part of the newbuild infrastructure, too.
T
Opening the door
I’ve mentioned it a number of times
before, but I really want to see
lenders opening up their appetite to
developments that are geared more
towards investor buyers, or sometimes
even converted office buildings
or similar, that are then creating
34
The Intermediary | June 2025
social housing for those in need –
including asylum seekers or other
vulnerable people.
It’s that investor appetite, even if
it isn’t always mainstream appetite
for purchasing a two-up-two-down
single family let, that helps prop up
the development sector in the UK.
Without investors having appetite
for some new-build properties,
regeneration in certain areas and cities
would halt.
We oen see these investors
requesting specialist assistance to find
a suitable lender for a development
with very minimal owner-occupier
exposure – yet they still continue to
buy these properties and add more and
more to their portfolios.
With such appetite, developers
will continue to build. We also see
many first-time movers renting these
properties, taking advantage of some
exceptional amenities in the building,
and contributing to the local economy.
I’m even going to go out on a limb
and say that landlords actually have
a bit of a hard time. I will caveat this
with the fact that I am fully aware
there are some bad landlords and that
JONATHAN FOWLER
is founder and managing
director at Fowler Smith
Mortgages & Protection
should never, ever be tolerated. But
those who want to provide a good level
of housing – who react to regulatory
changes in a positive manner, and
who want to maintain a well-lookedaer home for their tenants – I feel
need further support from lenders.
This support could come in a
number of guises. First, with the
Labour Government’s Net Zero
agenda, they are aiming for all
properties in the private rental sector
(PRS) to reach an Energy Performance
