Purchasing property with the intent of setting it up as a leasehold made available to let may be an excellent type of long term investment for you. You are the best judge of what you hope to accomplish in terms of income and security for your investment programme. A great deal will depend on what type of investment portfolio you wish to set up. For example, a young family attempting to set aside money for future educational expenses for the children will invest money differently than a couple nearing retirement age. 
So, the first step in purchasing a buy to let property is to determine your investment goals. Are you looking for stable income over a long period of time? Are you trying to build your equity in the property as quickly as possible? Are you trying to shelter some income to give yourself a better tax break? Are you planning on selling an appreciated property at some point in the future? Sometimes the reason for purchasing this type of property is a combination of the above.
Next, you will want to realistically determine how much you can afford to borrow. If you do not allow for things like operating expenses of the purchase property, you could get caught short if a pipe bursts and you are forced to pay for extensive cleaning and repairs. Other things that are occasionally disregarded in calculating the cost of this type of property is extra liability insurance, cost of maintaining public areas in a leasehold, and unfortunately, lack of cash flow when a space goes vacant for a longer than expected time.
Obtaining a loan for investment property can be much more difficult than for a regular loan. Lenders perceive that risk for such mortgages is higher than for primary residences. It may not be possible to rent out the property 100% of the time and when this happens, the landlord cannot rely on the income from the property to make the mortgage payment.
To protect from excessive risk, lenders use different qualification formulas, most based on a combination of the income from the property, the borrowers annual income and the estimated management expenses associated with the rental property. This amount sets an upper limit on the amount that can be borrowed on a particular type of rental property.
Still, the concept of buy to let has become increasingly popular in the UK since the late 1990s. Housing prices have risen dramatically in the UK making it more difficult for first time homeowners to qualify for a mortgage. Renting a house is often a satisfactory interim step between living at home and owning their own home.
Because of changes in landlord-tenant laws in the UK, potential landlords are more willing to take the risk of problem tenants, since tenants no longer have security of tenancy. The number of tenants searching for housing has increased because of increased numbers of repossessions. These circumstances make buy to let financing attractive to both landlord and tenant.