Landlords warned against straying from cities

Buy-to-let investors would be ill-advised to purchase property outside of major urban areas such as London, it has been claimed.

Paul Collins, property editor of BuyAssocation, said that the further you move away from big city centres, the more "tricky" it can become to rent out property.

While the appeal of renting in bustling metropolises such as London remains strong, Mr Collins said that in more remote areas the emphasis tends to be on buying and settling down.

He commented: "In terms of buy-to-let investment, it can be tricky when you move further away from the big centres and employment because people tend to buy in those areas [outside of major cities]."

"It's somewhere they'd like to buy, settle and spend a significant amount of time," Mr Collins added. "They would probably be looking to buy, rather than rent. I think that you might find that if you have a family home, you may be able to rent that out, but smaller commuter based properties might not be so popular."

According to the latest Halifax Quality of Life survey, London and the south-east dominate the list of top ten counties in the UK.

News posted on 30th April, 2008