ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the characteristics, attitudes and experiences of a group of private landlords that were interviewed as part of a research project on the 'buy to let' initiative. It discusses the key findings from the research to illuminate the dimension of the modern private rented sector, and considers some of the possible longer-term implications of buy to let for the future of private renting. The research on the buy to let initiative was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and is reported in full elsewhere. Research on private landlords indicates that the usage of letting agents appears to have become more widespread in recent years. Most of the landlords were living in the area in which their buy to let properties were located. The choice of property type purchased by the landlords was generally led in the first instance by their choice of target niche market segment – the two things generally went hand-in-hand.
