When making any kind of investment, it is always a good idea to consider the worst-case scenario. When it comes to a buy-to-let property, a bad situation would occur if it proved impossible to find a tenant for an indeterminate period. In this instance, the landlord would be paying not only the loan but also the agency fees and maintenance costs, without seeing any return on the investment.
However, if you budget carefully, have chosen a property wisely and set the rent at an appropriate rate, there is no reason at all why this should be a problem. Buying a property to let opens up a considerable number of costs, including legal fees, survey costs, and stamp duty. Maintenance, utility contracts and refurbishment can soon add to these. It is worth totalling up all potential costs and deciding in advance whether you have the budget to cover them, also factoring in a rise in mortgage rates.