Mark Bolton ([identity profile] tokyo-mb.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] tobyaw 2011-04-28 08:09 am (UTC)

Research sponsored by a quango set up by the last government shows that on average only 7% of the increase in average house prices between 1996 and 2007 was down to buy-to-let. Even without buy-to-let average house prices in that period would have increased by 130%.

See http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/507390/pdf/684948.pdf (summary press release) and http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/507390/pdf/684943.pdf (technical econometric report).

I could advance a strong argument that buy-to-let is actually a good thing in that it keeps average rent down, and increases availability of rental stock - which is arguably more important to the economy than the level of average house prices.

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