Property investment 'more attractive' than shares - buy to let mortgages

17 September 2008

Investing in buy to let property is still an attractive option despite the economic slowdown, according to an industry expert.

Neil Young, the chief executive of Young Group, has compared the merits of property investment as opposed to buying shares in the wake of the collapse of US bank Lehman Brothers.

"One clear difference between property and paper investments is that property has a tangible value," he remarked.

He added that property is easier to comprehend than share purchases and pointed out that it will gain value over the long term.

The FTSE 100 has not recovered since its last high of 6,939 in December 1999, he pointed out.

It currently stands at 5,117, prompting Mr Young to encourage people with buy to let mortgages to have faith in the housing market rather than the stock exchange.

Recently, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors claimed that new stamp duty reforms brought in by the government would benefit buy to let investors.