Buy-to-let landlords continue to have a long view over their property investments, according to the Association of Residential Lettings Agents’ (ARLA) latest quarterly ARLA Review and Index, as landlords expect to hold them for up to 20 years and, even if house prices continue to fall, they do not intend to sell.

ARLA believes that it is these investors who are maintaining the core growth in the private rented sector and providing the housing solutions for people during the recession. The proportion of investment landlords who do not expect to sell during the next 12 months has risen sharply from 77% to 88% and the annual life expectancy of residential property investments averages at 16.3 years with more than one in five investors expecting to maintain their investments for over 20 years.

These investors reported an average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio across their portfolios of 56%. Only a third estimated their LTV at more than 76%. The average rate of return on buy-to-let investment over the past five years is 10.59% for an outright cash purchase and 21.54% for a mortgage-backed investment.

Ian Potter, head of operations for ARLA, said: “Again and again, these independent surveys show that buy-to-let landlords are helping to guarantee the growth of the private rented sector and these are the people who provide the housing solutions for those hit by the current recession and into the future.”