• UK landlords expect annual rent growth to slow to 1.7% by next year, down from 3.7% currently
• Finding trustworthy tenants deemed more important to landlords than higher rental yields
• Nearly a quarter (24%) of landlords want to purchase additional rental properties this year
• Three in five landlords (60%) think it is a good time to invest in buy-to-let, up from 54% six months ago
• More than a fifth of landlords (22%) find their buy-to-let mortgage payments cheaper than a year ago

After a recent spurt of rent growth, landlords anticipate that rent rises will taper off over the next twelve months, according to a sentiment survey of more than 1,200 landlords conducted by Your Move and Reeds Rains, the UK’s largest lettings agent network.

On average UK landlords anticipate that rents will increase by 1.7% in the coming year, a sharp slowdown from the current rate of annual rent growth to a steadier trajectory.

According to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from Your Move and Reeds Rains, average residential rents across the UK climbed 3.7% in the year to March 2015, the fastest pace for two years.
The proportion of landlords who will not raise their rents in the next twelve months has increased from 56% in September 2014 to 60% currently.

Only a minority of four in ten landlords (40%) intend to increase their rental prices before March 2016.