"Clearly, many professional landlords are adapting to market conditions with a clear strategy"
- Daryl Norkett - Shawbrook
While overall application volumes remained steady, professional landlords demonstrated a clear appetite for diversification. As a proportion of all applications submitted, semi-commercial purchase applications rose by 31% year-on-year, while commercial property purchases increased by 28%. These figures highlight a growing trend towards higher-yielding investments within the professional landlord sector.
At the same time, refinancing trends revealed a cautious approach to managing existing portfolios. Applications for refinancing without additional capital raising increased across all property types, while refinancing with capital raise applications declined. This suggests landlords are prioritising debt management in the current high-interest-rate environment, opting to secure fixed rates through product transfers, such as Shawbrook’s ‘Switch & Fix’, in order to optimise existing portfolios rather than sell.’
Daryl Norkett, Director of Real Estate Proposition at Shawbrook, commented: “2024 was the year of diversification for professional landlords. We saw them shifting their focus towards higher-yielding opportunities like semi-commercial and commercial properties, demonstrating their resilience and adaptability in a challenging market. Clearly many professional landlords are adapting to market conditions with a clear strategy.
“At the same time, the more cautious landlords are focusing on managing existing debt carefully, securing stability through fixed-rate product transfers to continue to manage and grow their property businesses. Our ‘Switch & Fix’ offering has been instrumental in helping landlords achieve this balance and we have more exciting plans in 2025 to support professional landlords manage and grow their portfolios.”
