There have been quite a few doom and gloom merchants over the years when it comes to the future of the buy-to-let sector. Many of these have been largely dispelled by a private rented sector which continues to grow in size, largely due to the extent of ongoing demand and in the wake of a shortage of quality rental homes across much of the UK.

However, with ongoing fiscal pressure being exerted on landlords and mortgage rates much higher than experienced over the past few years, this has led to further questions being asked over landlords’ appetites to add to their portfolios.

In an ageing population, housing demographics are ever-changing.

As the average first-time buyer age rises, so too does demand for a variety of rental properties. In addition, increasing demand from older tenants continues to dispel the outdated myth that the private rented sector is purely the domain of the younger generations. Although this is not a trend which has bypassed the attention of many landlords, with growing numbers realising the benefits attached to having older tenants in situ.

This was evident in newly released data from Paragon which outlined that almost half of UK landlords are prepared to update their property to accommodate the needs of older tenants.

With the cost-of-living crisis hitting people hard in the pocket over the winter period and beyond, energy efficiency is fast becoming a priority for a growing number of tenants.

This trend was highlighted in new research from Shawbrook which revealed that 58% of private renters would be less likely to look at a rental property if they were aware that it had an EPC rating of D or below.

As part of its Confronting the EPC Challenge report, the study found that young private renters are particularly engaged on energy efficiency, with 72% of renters aged 18–34 saying they always check the EPC rating of a property before making any decisions. This is compared to 52% of those aged over 55 years old.

As I was scanning the Financial Reporter news section on the countdown to Christmas, I came across a pull quote in one article which immediately grabbed my attention. This read "If anyone in the mortgage market was hoping for a period of product and criteria stability then I'm afraid they will have to wait a bit longer."

This came from Knowledge Bank’s CEO Nicola Firth on the back of its monthly criteria index which revealed that the year looked set to end as it started with a vast number of criteria changes across the whole range of product categories.

From all of us here at Dynamo, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support over the course of 2022.

It’s been something of a rollercoaster year with many challenges along the way. However, greater market stability has emerged and after conversations with many lenders, we’ve been encouraged by a host of exciting plans which are already in place for Q1 2023 and beyond.

With pricing trending in the right direction, you can be sure of some increased competition across the BTL sector and plenty of innovation along the way, meaning the BTL market is ready to hit the ground running in 2023.

Whilst we are gearing up for a hectic start, we hope that you get the opportunity to take a break, recharge those batteries and enjoy the festive period. So, here’s to a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year.

There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s been a tough year for many people, including landlords, especially over the past few months.

Many landlords are currently facing a tougher time securing the right type of finance in the midst of a challenging BTL marketplace fuelled by limited product choice and rising mortgage rates.

This was evident in the latest mortgage market analysis by Octane Capital which revealed that the number of buy-to-let mortgage products on offer has fallen by 51.1% in the past year, down from 3,264 in November 2021 to 1,595 in November 2022.