Landlords are largely planning to absorb any increases in their buy-to-let mortgage rates this year, according to research from insurer Endsleigh.
The firm surveyed more than 500 owners of UK rental properties to see how they expected the financial and property sectors to develop over the remainder of 2023.
While the Bank of England base rate has been at its historical low of 0.5 per cent since March 2022, more than eight in ten (85 per cent) of landlords surveyed believed that the interest rates charged on mortgage products would rise before 2024.
However, just one in 14 (seven per cent) planned to pass on this increase to their tenants, with the remainder saying they would not be changing their rents if interest rates rise.
Product manager Vikki Jefferies said: “Although landlords with existing mortgages, particularly trackers, may be expecting an increase in monthly payments very soon, they believe the lettings market is in a strong enough position that they won’t need to increase rental prices as a result.”
While the UK may be coming out of a recession, tenants in rented properties have had relatively few difficulties in paying their landlords over the past 12 months.
Only around one in eight (13 per cent) of those surveyed said they had encountered tenants who were unable to pay during the last year.
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