Existing Property vs. New Build:

Here is an excerpt from the article dated May 26 2007. 'Your Money' section of 'The daily Telegraph':

'The UK's long running property boom has resulted in thousands of people becoming first-time landlords, as they try to find alternatives to pensions or simply want to ride the wave of rising house prices.

The number of buy-to-let mortgages jumped from nearly 702,000 in 2005 to almost 850,000 at the end of 2006 - an increase of more than 20 percent - with many more people still keen to jump on the buy-to-let bandwagon….'

the article continues…

'…Second hand flats rather than new build developments appear to offer a better option for landlords, according to figures from the Financial Services Authority.

Around 45pc of the buy-to-let properties repossessed are new build flats, despite them making up just 8pc of the mortgage housing stock.

The average price of non new flats has gone up by 59pc in five years, according to Stephen Ludlow, of property website ludlowthompson.com, compared with just 15pc for new build flats.

Mr. Ludlow said: We often find that developers forecast unrealistically high rents when they are marketing new build properties. It pays to get a second opinion on a forecast rent from a lettings agent unconnected to a development.'

So there you have it !

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