Buy-to-let remains a long term investment strategy for investor-landlords, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents latest Review and Index.

A staggering 88% of investor-landlords intend to hold their properties for an average of 16 years, while 90% say they will not sell even if house prices fall.

Over 300 investor landlords and 500 letting agents participated in the quarterly survey.

Investors in Buy-to-let are split fairly evenly between those who became residential landlords aiming to achieve both rental income and capital appreciation (44%) and those who invested to create a nest egg for the future (47%). Just 6% of all residential landlords say they invest to gain an income stream and only 2.6% are looking for a short-term capital gain.

"These figures, showing the reasons why people invest in buy-to-let demonstrate the falsity of reports that claim investing in rental property is a bubble that is about to burst," commented Adrian Turner, Chief Executive of the Association of Residential Letting Agents.