Sentiment remains high for a large majority of landlords going into the New Year, according to the latest research from The Mortgage Lender (TML), which found that 74% of residential buy to let landlords feel confident about the performance of the property market over the next 12 months, with 27% feeling very confident.

Confidence in the future of the property market peaked for those landlords that predominantly owned HMOs at 86%, student accommodation landlords (84%) and portfolio landlords with more than five properties (82%).

When it came to the performance of their own rental properties over the next 12 months, 71% of landlords felt confident, with portfolio landlords (5+ properties) feeling the most confident at 78%.

Those more seasoned landlords who have been renting out properties for more than five years were more likely to feel confident about their rental property portfolios over the next 12 months compared to those with less experience (73% vs 69%), possibly due to the fact that they have weathered a number of economic cycles.

With BTL playing a critical part in the residential market mix, tenant demand has remained buoyant, helping to keep these confidence levels up. Indeed, 73% of landlords said they’d seen demand from tenants increase over the last six months, with 27% saying it had been a significant increase.