Investment interest growing in the Midlands

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by Kay Murchie

According to research from Property for Life, people in the Midlands are showing an interest in property investment. The investment consultancy established that interest in the region was up by 25% between June and November compared with just 3% in the south-west.

Six regions across the country saw increases over the period with Property for Life suggesting that such optimism was well-founded. David Austin of Property for Life said the buy-to-let sector is an essential part of the property market and is also taking up the slack on social housing.

He continued that investors have every reason to be confident in the long-term returns of buy-to-let. The high demand for rented property continues on its upward path and shows no indications of slowing as immigrant numbers rise and the younger generation are faced with unaffordability issues and are deterring buying until slightly later in life.

Furthermore, next April will see the new flat rate of capital gains tax come into effect which is set to benefit investors.

However, Howard Pinto, property specialist at City Homes London, said recently that it is anticipated that the UK property market will crash by at least 25% meaning that buy-to-let landlords will risk losing a minimum of 30-40% off the price of their investments over the next 18 months.

Mr Pinto said that the sub-prime mortgage problems in the US are a frightening situation for global economy, he said the fact that the US is facing losses of over 55% and falling is an indication of what is about to occur here.