Landlords in North of England are most likely to pay for properties in cash

THE PROPORTION of landlords pay ng for propert es n cash has reached ts h ghest levels n at least a decade accord ng to an ndex.

January saw a 61 per cent of landlord purchases be ng made n cash across Br ta n, the h ghest figure s nce records started n 2007, accord ng to lett ngs network Countryw de.

Landlords buy ng n the North of England, where houses are often less expens ve, are the most l kely to pay n cash, the report found.

Some 70 per cent of landlord purchases n the North West of England are n cash, as are 68 per cent n Yorksh re and the Humber and 67 per cent n the North East.

In London, landlords pa d for 42 per cent of propert es n cash.

Countryw de sa d the proport on of landlords buy ng n cash has stead ly ncreased over the last decade. In 2007, just 41 percent of landlords bought a home w thout a mortgage. Recent announcements about tax changes for landlords, nclud ng a stamp duty h ke mposed on th s sector n Apr l 2016, have left landlords fac ng a squeeze on the r profits.

Last week, the Royal Inst - tut on of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) sa d rents are pred cted to push up faster than house pr ces over the next five years as landlords are expected to scale back the number of propert es on the r books.

Johnny Morr s, research d rector at Countryw de, sa d: “On average landlords sell a home once every 17 years, mean ng as pr ces have ncreased, a s gn ficant amount of wealth has bu lt up n the sector. Th s s now fuell ng cash purchases.”

Mr Morr s sa d that followng the stamp duty ncrease last year, there have been s gns of the number of homes on the rental market com ng down.