We’ve already seen many landlords take advantage of the recent stamp duty changes to add to their existing portfolios, but there are also other benefits on offer. A lesser known knock-on effect from this tax break is that it can also provide landlords with the opportunity to incorporate existing properties into a limited company structure.

There has been much talk about the pros and cons of incorporating a property or portfolio into a limited company structure in recent times. By adding further monetary gain into this equation, all types of landlords are re-evaluating their positions to see if they would be better off operating as a limited company.

In addition, landlords also need to get themselves prepared for the introduction of energy efficiency grants, which are set to launch next month. The grant was announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Summer Statement in a bid to create “green jobs” in the building and construction sector. Homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers from September that will cover at least two-thirds of the cost of updating their property, up to £5,000 per household.

Further positive news emerged via a Q2 survey from BVA BDRC and BM Solutions. This highlighted a broader feeling of landlord positivity, with only one in five anticipating a ‘significant’ negative impact as a result of Covid-19. It also outlined that landlord confidence rebounded in the second quarter of the year as rental yields and tenant demand increased.

Property investors were said to be increasingly likely to expand their portfolios as the proportion intending to buy reached a four-year high, with those preparing to sell hitting a three-year low. In addition, the proportion of landlords intending to buy in the next 12 months increased by five per cent to 17 per cent, the highest level for around four years, while those looking to reduce the number of properties they own fell to a three-year low of 17 per cent.

This may be explained by ongoing landlord confidence in rental yields and their own lettings business, with confidence levels rising by 18 percentage points in both fields. Confidence in near term prospects for rental yields reached 42 per cent in the latest survey, up three per cent on the same time last year. And confidence in their own businesses doubled to 37 per cent, up eight per cent compared to the same period in 2019. This is reflected in the fact that 87 per cent of landlords were suggested to be generating a profit – the highest level of profitability recorded since the end of 2018.

This is highly encouraging data and certainly reflects the increased activity, optimism and willingness to explore opportunities that we are seeing from landlords on a daily basis. And I wholeheartedly agree with the comments from Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions, when he outlined that this optimism is an early indicator of the resilience that we have seen in the private rental sector in the past, and that the industry continues to work hard behind the scenes to support the market through these challenging times.

Challenges do remain for lenders and landlords but the buy-to-let market has a solid history of overcoming any obstacles which are placed in its way and – without trying to appear too bullish – this time is no different.