Landlords stay on track

Some 89 per cent are planning to hang onto their residential portfolio and only 10 per cent anticipate a need to sell any of them.

And 44 per cent are actually planning to increase their rental properties over the next three years.

The results come in one of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted, among the country's private rented sector landlords, by leading professional organisation the Residential Landlords Association - whose members own over 100,000 properties throughout the UK.

"It paints a fairly optimistic picture," says RLA director, Alan Ward, "but, for most self employed people, there is often little choice faced with long term investment and the credit-crunch.

"For nearly half our members, owning and renting property is a business and to more than a quarter it's a main source of income. And that means we have to take the body blows, like everyone else, and hope things improve."

The survey '“ carried out on the Residential Landlords Association website - www.rla.org.uk - shows that 40 per cent of respondents first became landlords between 1999 and 2004 although 26 per cent have been renting out property since before 1996.

The majority (68 per cent) own up to 10 properties, 13 per cent have between 11 and 20, 11 per cent rent out 21 - 50, and five per cent operate portfolios of more than 50.

Nearly half (48 per cent) have fewer than 10 tenants but nine per cent have more than 50.

Nearly half (47 per cent) began buying and renting residential property in order to create an alternative pension but for 27 per cent it is a main income with 45 per cent regarding it as a business.

The biggest property earners are family houses '“ bringing in 36 per cent of rental income '“ followed by flats and apartments (26 per cent), shared worker tenancies (11 per cent), social security tenants (10 per cent) and shared student houses (8 per cent).

Landlords are fairly equal in what they regard as the biggest threats to the private rented sector.

The sheer volume of buy-to-let legislation with which they need to keep up to date, the fear of corporate landlords squeezing out private investors and the possible repeal of Section 21 legislation, governing their right to evict, are slightly ahead of threats from the 'credit crunch' and the effect of a possible government review of planning laws in student property areas.

Proposals to license all landlords ('Rugg Report', November 2008) are met with enthusiasm from only 45 per cent - slightly outnumbered by the 54 per cent who think it's a bad idea.