Buy to let landlords have contributed around £3.61 billion to local economies around the UK in the last year, according to new research from Aldermore Bank.
The bank questioned 1,000 investors in the buy to let sector, and discovered that the average private rented sector landlord spent £1,443 in the last 12 months on local tradespeople. This includes services from businesses such as letting agents, builders and plumbers, among other professionals, who were all hired from within the local community for the majority of their needs and requirements.
Of the entire funds paid out to local providers of services, buy to let landlords spent the majority of their money on letting agents. Agents, who help with services such as inventory property management, received £879 million in the past year from landlords. 31 per cent of all landlords questioned in the survey paid for the services of letting agents, with the average sum spent by each landlord on letting agents reaching £1,135.40 in the past 12 months.
This was closely followed by the amount paid to general maintenance and handy workers, which totalled £442 million, and the amount paid to local plumbers, which reached £396 million in the past year, with 51 per cent and 40 per cent of those questioned using these services in the past year, respectively. Buy to let landlords also spent a considerable amount on local electricians, and this figure reached £375.4 million, with 47 per cent of landlords using their services in the past year, closely followed by builders, who received £377.3 million from buy to let landlords across the country. This equated to just over a quarter of those questioned, at 26 per cent, using their services, with the average spend of each landlord totalling £580.50 in the past year. Buy to let landlords also paid £243.2 million for services provided by cleaners in the last 12 months.
Hiring local professionals to remedy the issues found in their rental properties provides many landlords with peace of mind. According to the research from Aldermore Bank, many investor landlords, at 39 per cent, cited that trust was the primary reason behind why they employed a local provider. In fact, just over one quarter of those questioned, at 26 per cent, explained that due to not living in close proximity to their rental homes, employing local people to carry out maintenance on their properties is reassuring.
The least used service by buy to let landlords in the last 12 months was architects. £76.4 million was spent by landlords in the past year, which equated to 4 per cent of those questioned.
Aldermore Bank’s group managing director of the retail finance division, Damian Thompson, has stated that landlords are essential to local communities in all parts of the UK. He explains that not only do they fulfil the substantial demand of the growing private rented sector, but they also provide investment and fuel local economies.
Mr Thompson stated that the findings from this research show that by supporting local communities and their economy, benefits are also clearly evident in the businesses owned by landlords. Local workers offer a great deal of value to buy to let landlords, with the respondents questioned in the bank’s survey citing that the understanding of the local area, cost-effectiveness and high quality work were all key benefits.