Research undertaken by London lettings management firm Howsy has uncovered that buy-to-let type investments that already have a tenant in place are the most sought after in many major cities across the UK. Bristol, Glasgow and Leeds all indicate a high demand for pre-tenanted properties for investments in buy-to let.
Statistics revealed by the company based in East London’s Shoreditch, indicate that Leeds, Oxford and Cardiff are the cities where investors have the greatest potential of purchasing a buy-to-let opportunity complete with tenants. In Glasgow, 62% of residences with a tenant are already sold or under offer, while in Cardiff, there is a 3.7% probability that the property will have tenants in situ.
Founder of Howsy, Calum Brannan, commented on the advantages of properties with a tenant in position for landlords. He stated that as long as the tenant is a suitable candidate for renting, having one in place is a “modern-day equivalent of the golden fleece”. He explained:
“It can take a whole lot of the headache out of the initial start-up phase of your investment, reducing the initial rental void period usually suffered while finding a tenant, as well as saving on agent finding fees.”
Brannan added that even when landlords plan to revamp properties to sell to specific markets, having tenants in situ during renovation provides additional income to put towards refurbishment costs.
Within the 23 cities included in the Howsy research study, only 0.8% of the properties for sale are offered with a tenant already in position.
