Recent Articles in Buy to let property checklists

Who is talking of a property bubble? Part 1
Sep 7, 2015

At least three reports are saying we are in a bubble, Kate reviews the factors attributed to a bubble, find out more by reading on...

Is the future bleak for renters?
Sep 3, 2015

For a while now we have been hearing about ‘generation rent’ and the terrible time they are having. And it’s true that there are some areas where things are bleak at the moment, such as zones two and three in London where it’s pretty tough to find anything to rent for less than £1,000 a month for one person, meaning a cost of £12k in rent and another £5k a year in council tax, utility bills, insurance etc so total costs of £17k, quite hard to afford on a decent salary, but impossible to meet on £6.50 minimum wage. So anyone on this kind of wage is still going to have to spend around £6k a year just renting a room, or stay at home with mum and dad.

Kate's full property price update for August 2015
Aug 24, 2015

We take an in depth look each month at what the property price reports are telling us. They tend to measure the market at different times and also in different ways – which is why some indices give average prices of under £200,000 and other’s over £200,000! It’s not the number that is so important, it’s really what the trend is – whether that’s up or down and what’s impacting the market.

Changes in the Summer Budget affecting residential landlords
Aug 17, 2015

There were a few surprising tax change proposed in the Summer Budget in July 2015 which could impact upon residential landlords. These will have a mixed impact, depending on your circumstances, but will generally be detrimental when they have all come in to force. It remains to be seen whether or not this will dampen down the upward pressure on house prices, to allow more first-time buyers into the property market, which was the Chancellors stated aim!

Buy to let Analysis – how will the loss of mortgage relief affect your earnings?
Aug 17, 2015

I have been working through the numbers to better understand how the impact of the BTL loss of tax relief will – or won’t affect buy to let investors. There is no doubt that some investors have seen some terrific returns from their property investment. But it’s also a risky investment and even hefty returns can be wiped out pretty fast. Most of the so called ‘property gurus’ I remember seeing on the circuit over the last 15 years have disappeared, or I am hearing stories of them being in trouble!