By A vast majority of UK property investors plan to increase the size of their portfolios in 2019 despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit and affordability issues, according to a recent poll by MT Finance.
Some 80 per cent of investors said they plan to increase their portfolios in 2019, while 20 per cent said they are not making any changes to their portfolio this year. Also, of the people surveyed, none planned to reduce their exposure to the UK property market by reducing their investment this year, according MT Finance.
Of those planning to increase the size of their portfolios, 39 per cent are looking to buy in the South East of England, while 25 per cent are looking to Wales, followed by 13 per cent who plan to buy property in the Midlands. Meanwhile, 16 per cent revealed they would not be buying property in the UK at all this year.
Due to the current prices in London, none are set to buy property in the capital, which is considered too expensive, according to the recent poll by MT Finance.
The fact that these results come at a time when 51 per cent of respondents are uncertain of the conditions for property investors in 2019, and 28 per cent believe conditions will not improve, is encouraging, says MT Finance.
2018 was another challenging year for property investors in the UK due to Brexit negotiations and tax changes, says the firm. When asked what the biggest challenge for property investors had been last year, 40 per cent of respondents said affordability issues.
The ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit was the second biggest challenge faced by property investors in 2018 at 32 percent, followed by difficulty accessing funding at 17 percent, according to MT Finance. Also, 11 per cent of property investors said that government legislation was in fact the biggest challenge in 2018.
A total of 40 of the 101 respondents revealed they had purchased residential properties as investments and 43 respondents said they had bought commercial properties. Also, 21 said they bought foreign properties as investment while 50 respondents said they didn’t purchase any property at all in 2018.
Gareth Lewis, commercial director at MT Finance, commented: “The UK property market has seen a reduction in high value purchase transactions. This is reflected in the latest data from HMRC, who revealed stamp duty receipts fell by £1 billion last year.
“The results from our Q4 Property Investor Survey highlight how higher stamp duty and a lack of affordability has pushed property investors out of London, where more rental properties are vital. While there is continuing uncertainty, particularly over how the Brexit negotiations will unfold, UK property investors remain resilient.”
He finished by saying that the suggested future behaviour of property professionals is a good sign for the market in general.
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