Landlords have increased the number of properties they own, research suggests

Landlords have taken advantage of falling house prices to increase the number of properties they own, research has showed.

The average number of properties owned by buy-to-let investors has risen from 6.3 in the final quarter of 2008 to seven during the third quarter of this year, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

The group said the rise ended the trend for landlords to reduce their property portfolios which began in early 2008.

But despite the dip in portfolio sizes seen last year, the average landlord now owns nearly twice as many properties as they did in 2004, when they had only four.

Experience among landlords is also increasing, with the average investor having being in the market for 9.2 years during the third quarter of the year, compared with 7.8 years during the first quarter.

Ian Potter, operations manager at ARLA, said: "Low interest rates and proportionately higher rental yields are making the buy-to-let market attractive again to experienced investors.

"There is a huge potential for investment at present, but landlords should take heed from the number of buy-to-let repossessions that this recession has seen and only borrow what they can realistically manage."