A lender claims that semi-detached houses have overtaken terraced homes as the preferred property type in landlords plan to buy, reflecting growing tenant demand for larger homes.

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The bank contracted BVA BDRC to hold a survey with 800 landlords which claims that 14 per cent of those that took part in the research are actively planning to buy new properties this year; 40 per cent of these will be purchasing semi-detached properties whilst 39 per cent sticking with terraced houses.

From April 2021 landlords opting for semis as their next purchase has risen by 6 per cent which ‘heralds’ the new preference of property interest type, from the same question in BVA BDRC’s 2017 survey when terraced purchase intentions outweighed semis.

The bank explains that the new ‘popularity’ amongst landlords for semis started from the onset of Covid when landlords stated they intended to purchase one over the following twelve months, which has been steadily gaining momentum ever since.

Over the last two years there has been an increased interest for landlords in detached properties which doubled from 9 per cent in Q2 2019 to 18 per cent in Q4 2021.

Landlords looking to buy other property types this year include HMOs – 16 per cent -and single flats – 17 per cent.

The mortgages manager for the bank, said: “The pandemic has accelerated some of the trends we were already seeing in the profile of tenants, such as older tenants and more families, resulting in growing demand for semi-detached and detached homes. We have certainly seen a more recent trend for higher demand for larger homes due to a greater prevalence of home working, whilst we have also seen more families sell their home to relocate and renting before they buy.

“We may also be seeing landlords anticipating the planned changes to Energy Performance rating of property and targeting homes that are either meeting the planned minimum EPC level of C or those that will be easier to upgrade than terraced homes. It will be interesting to see whether this trend continues in the coming months.”

The survey’s report said those landlords planning to buy properties is in line with their number of properties with 8 per cent of single property landlords looking to start a portfolio in the next twelve months, whilst 24 per cent of those with eleven plus properties looking to expand portfolios this year.

The most popular regions landlords are considering purchasing new properties ( not including London) are the North West – 18 per cent, South West – 17 per cent and the South East with 15 per cent.