Buy-to-let 'grown 30-fold under Blair'

The buy-to-let property market has expanded 30-fold under the leadership of Tony Blair, according to new data.

Figures supplied by online property exchange The Property Investment Market reveal that the market has grown from nearly nothing to represent ten per cent of the UK residential housing sector.

There were 850,00 buy-to-let mortgages worth £94.8 billion at the end of 2006, which is a 30-fold increase from the 28,700 outstanding mortgages which existed a decade ago, the website states.

Reasons for this rise in buy-to-let investment under Mr Blair include falling interest rates - which reached a record low of 3.5 per cent in 2003 - and the removal of restrictions to the assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST), which made the letting process easier, the firm suggests.

Gavin Davidson, property director of The Property Investment Market, commented: "The changes to the AST and better borrowing rates offered the reassurance needed to encourage buy-to-let investors into the market and has encouraged investment in residential property through a variety of means.

"As a whole, investing in property has become much more prominent during the last decade as ordinary people want their slice of the action."

After leaving the post of prime minister, Tony Blair recently accepted a job as Middle East envoy for the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.