At the start of this year I commented here that by Spring 2014 we could well be seeing stronger performance from the UK economy, with increased confidence from lenders and consumers and that this could lead to a wider recovery in many regional property markets.

Fast forward just nine months and there can be little doubt that the green shoots of recovery are increasingly evident. The ripple of confidence which was very evident in central London last year has quickly spread outwards in recent months and as such property investment prospects in many regions would now appear to have some firmer foundations as 2014 approaches.

Our lead article on page 14 looks at the potential trends for UK bank rate and finance costs in relation to inflation, which is an ongoing cause of potential concern for all investors as the era of very low borrowing costs is unlikely to continue indefinitely.

Once again we have a number of articles inside this edition focusing on HMO property, which has been a strong trend in the last few years as many investors have focused on maximizing income in the absence of capital growth. I am however hearing more comments from readers and trade sources, particularly away from London, about the risk of an oversupply of room lets in some locations. As we will be reporting on in our upcoming October edition the student sector is being impacted in some cities by demand pressures as a result of the fee hikes and the article on page 28 contains comment about an increasing supply of rooms to let from rent to rent / lease to let room providers, so anyone considering significant new investment into an HMO needs to think carefully about sustainable demand levels in their chosen market and related tenant sub-sector.