Are HMO’s a good investment?

Posted on 03/07/2019 by Adam

In comparison to renting a property to a single-family. The rental income from multiple occupants often results in higher aggregate rental income.

This may not always be the case. It may be that shared housing is in low demand in an area compared to single-family lets. A local letting agent will help you compare how much rent you will get in each configuration to help you decide.

Unfortunately in HMO’s tenant turnover may be higher. With tenants staying in HMO’s for shorter periods. This can result in higher management costs and increased frequency of decoration.

Fortunately, a tenant moving out of an HMO will only result in a small decrease in rental income that month. Compared to a whole family moving out of a property, giving you no income that month. (or until it’s rented).

An HMO is more of an investment than a single let. You may need to apply for licences after renovation. Perhaps installing commercial fire systems, locks on doors and reconfiguring a properties layout.

HMO’s can be good investments but the answer is subjective. Results may vary.

What is a HMO? How to convert property to a HMO? Who does HMO Mortgages?

Posted in Buy to Let FAQ

Mortgage interest relief changes for Landlords Budget 2015

Posted on 09/07/2015 by Adam

Up until April 2017, landlords, whether individuals or corporate, can offset the amount of interest which they pay to their lenders annually on their mortgage against their tax bill. Capital repayments do not qualify. Landlords are entitled to treat interest paid as an expense of their lettings business in the same way as any other business

Mortgage interest relief for landlords will be reduced in a ‘proportionate and gradual’ way, to bring the benefits for Buy to Let landlords in line with ‘Buy to Live’ buyers. This is George Osbornes way of market manipulation to hinder Higher Rate Tax Payers in favour of First Time Buyers – hindering competition instead of building more homes.

The system will be remain, but the tax relief will be restricted to the basic rate. The higher rate relief will start to be withdrawn over four years, starting in April 2017.

HMRC: Interest releif changes costs for individual landlords; suggests only One in Five landlords will be effected but the RLA in a “rent will rise” article outline that those 20% of landlords effected are often those that house the most families (i.e. more properties).

You can read the Chancellors Budget Speech, read the Budget Key announcements or read the Full Summer Budget 2015.

“Mortgage interest payments can be offset against income for buy-to-let landlords, an unfair advantage over people buying homes to live in, he says. This has fuelled buy-to-let mortgages, which are now 15% of the market. Mortgage interest relief will be restricted to the basic rate of interest” said George Osborne MP.

Landlord’s are not impressed from UK Property Traders to Property Tribes. Higher Rate Tax payers angry at a sever increase in costs, Lower Rate Tax payers worried about the president it sets and Conservatives questioning the Chancellors housing market manipulation.

The discussion has moved on to tax mitigation (not evasion) from LTD Companies to Trusts; an unintended consequence of Summer Budget 2015 having landlords head to there accountants for Tax Planning and asking about Limited Company Mortgages.

This oncoming change was predicted by the Residential Landlord Association (RLA) Policy Director Richard Jones whom wrote a report titled WHY MORTGAGE INTEREST TAX RELIEF IS VITAL TO THE PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR.. In the article it outlines “any other business rightly qualified for tax relief on interest on borrowed monies” and acquiring property to rent out is extremely capital intensive. Most landlords are small businesses, many of which have to borrow to fund the purchase of properties.

Above all it would be tenants who would be affected. The impact on tenants would be disastrous due to reduced investment in the Sector and higher rents to offset landlord’s extra costs. Like any other business it is ultimately the consumer of that business who bears the burden of tax because business taxes are passed on to consumers; in this case the tenants.

In a time of austerity where George Osborne needs to raise funds the higher rate tax payer landlords will take a hit and George Osborne gets to suggest he is helping first time buyers. To change mortgage tax interest relief would completely fly in the face of government policy and sends out the wrong signals of the wishes of the government to entice significant institutional investment.

In summery: The government will restrict the relief on finance costs that individual landlords of residential property can get to the basic rate of tax. The restriction will be phased in over 4 years, starting from April 2017. This change only effects higher rate tax payers of which HMRC estimates is 20% of all landlords.

Posted in Buy to Let News

7 Tips for Self Employed Mortgage

Posted on 15/06/2015 by Adam

Mortgage Lenders usually class you as self-employed if you own more than 20-25% of the shares of a business.

Keep your accounts in Good Shape.
The mortgage broker can ask from one years accounts, mainstream lenders for three years but those accounts must be clear and accurate.

Creative Accounting may lower your tax; but you must show a strong company that pays you well for the mortgage you want to purchase. Ideally, you want your company turnover and profits to be consistent or increasing – obviously easier said than done!

This is more prominent in Residential than Buy to Let; ensure your personal income is strong enough to support the loan amount; retaining profits in the company may lower personal tax liabilities but can reduce the maximum loan a lender can offer you; especially after MMR – paying a fair dividend against the profit made each year should help.

Keep your accounts up to date – your most recent accounts cannot be more than 18 months old for mortgage purposes.
Use a certified and chartered accountant
Lenders do not accept DIY Accounts or those submitted by a bookeeper. You need to make sure your accountant is certified or chartered for a mortgage lender to accept these as proof of income. Even if you record the accounts yourself; it is worth visiting an accountant to certify and submit them to Companies House.
Have your SA302 forms an Tax overview prepared
HMRC can take a few weeks to provide SA302 forms – get hold of the forms in advance of applying for the mortgage. Have the documents ready (or at least requested) from day one.

All borrowers have to prove their income whether they are employed or self employed and so the difficulty for self employed borrowers is in how they evidence that income. If you are not an employee with a regular paycheck it is going to be more difficult; the SA302 is that “simple document” that lenders like to rely on from a government body – HMRC!
Make sure your Credit Report is Healthy as Possible
All lenders take into account your credit report before they offer you a mortgage.

There are many steps you can take to improve your credit record: registering to vote, getting credit card and paying off the balance every month (even if you don’t need it).
Save up as large a deposit as possible
Self-employed are seen as a higher risk – on a residential basis its almost impossible to obtain a 95% loan to value from self-employed. The lenders want you to put more funds at risk in the event of a default.
Be Realistic
Do not overstretch yourself and attempt to take out a bigger mortgage than you can afford; self-employed people have variable income fluctuating.
Use a Mortgage Broker
High street mortgage lenders have little, if any interest in lending to the self-employed. Specialist providers are more in tune with the self-employed, understand how they operate and look at each case on its own merits – specialist lenders almost exclusively operate through mortgage advisers (as well as the high street ones).

Posted in Buy to Let FAQ

RightMove launches “Landlord Inteligence”

Posted on 05/01/2015 by Adam

RightMove has launched a new “information” service called Landlord Intelligence with fancy Spy Themed video that shows an ere Google Streemap panorama of what you put in. After this showing off of technologies from Google Streetview and RightMove we get some RightMove data.

You can get the Average Rent Per Month for a postocde; the number of properties on the market and total number of local searches. A-Lot-Less information than that is available at Zoopla; especially if your a Zoopla Pro user.

This data does give you an idea of demand with “total searches” an indication of Tenant Demand and “properties on market” giving you an idea of how much competition you have. Not pieces of data to be ignored when looking to purchase a property in that area.

RightMove was giving away a free ebook but the message reads “Apologies, the book offer is now closed”.

Landlords looking for area Market Research as still better provided for by Zoopla.

Posted in Buy to Let News

Metro Bank – Now Avaliable at Bespoke Finance

Posted on 17/12/2014 by Adam

We are delighted to inform going into 2015 Bespoke Finance is opening up Metro Bank mortgage offering to be available in all of England and Wales; Metro has opened their doors and no longer limited to London.

Metro Bank is Britains first new High Street Bank in over 100 years, its definitely different for instance mortgage applications are down to Manual Underwriting and not a formula on a computer.

Metro Bank Buy to Let Rates

4.09% Fixed for Five Years up to 75%
3.79% Fixed for Five years up to 65%
3.19% Fixed for Two Years up to 75%
2.99% Fixed for Two Years up to 65%

Metro Bank Residential Rates

3.69% Fixed for Five years up to 85% LTV
2.99% Fixed for Five years up to 70% LTV
2.84% Fixed for Five years up to 60% LTV
2.04% Fixed for Two years up to 70% LTV

Metro Bank Specialities

We’ve already mentioned the Manual Underwriting, this gives any solid case a chance rather than a yes/no criteria throwing out cases.

One interesting aspect is Metro will do Joint Borrower with a sole proprietor lending. Allowing those suffering an issue with income to find a partner to mitigate the lenders risk but the applicant still remains the “owner”.

The Southern Metro Bank customers have enjoyed up till now Free Valuation and Free Legals on re-mortgages on both Residential and Buy to Let. Metro Bank is looking to keep this Re-mortgage Package for all of England and Wales – this kind of offer brings “product switch” into question with your current banker – Metro could offer better rates.

As for overpayments Metro allows 20% Residential and 10% Buy to Let – Overpayments of the Total Borrowed each year.

The New Bank also allows Interest Only up to 70% LTV, whilst other lenders now only allow Repayment on Residential Mortgages. As long as you are able to provide that bank with a credible and provable repayment strategy in place from the outset.

Posted in Buy to Let News, Residential Mortgage News

2014 Stamp Duty Changes

Posted on 03/12/2014 by Adam

Before 4 December 2014, SDLT was charged as a single percentage of the property price.

After 4 December 2014, SDLT is charged at different rates depending on the portion of the purchase price that falls into each rate band.

This is viewed as more “fare” whilst someone purchasing a property at £126k was charged a rate on the full price; previously someone paying £125k was not. This new system would mean the person paying £126k – is only charged a rate on £1k. It has now been changed to proportions.

With these changes – do come modifications of the Property Brands some increases – so it is hard to put a finger on the winners and loosers. Overall the government expects the SDLT reforms to cost the Treasury a total of £4.4bn in the next six years.

These changes come after the Conservative Chancellor George Osborne announced that he would be completely reforming what he described as a “badly designed tax on aspiration”.

New Property Value Bands

£0 – £125,000 – 0%
£125,001 – £250,000 – 2%
£250,001 – £925,000 – 5%
£925,001 – £1.5 million – 10%
Over £1.5 million – 12%

Side by Side Comparison of Changes:

Stamp Duty Changes Comparison

What is SDLT or Stamp Duty?

Stamp duty land tax, to give it its full name, is a tax you pay when you buy a home. You have to pay if you buy a property in the UK over a certain price. It doesn’t matter if it is somewhere you hope to live or a buy-to-let property. This is charged on all purchases of houses, flats and other land and buildings.

Is this good news for me?

Everyone buying a house costing less than £937,000, says the Treasury, or about 98% of households – this means savings. Anyone spending more will face a higher bill. If you are spending £2.1m on a home you will pay £165,750 under the new regime versus £147,000 previously.

Posted in Buy to Let News, Residential Mortgage News

House Price rise by just 0.3% in November

Posted on 28/11/2014 by Adam

You can read Nationwide full report HERE.

The annual pace of house price growth continued to soften in November, falling from 9.0% in October to 8.5%, marking the third consecutive month where annual growth has moderated. This is despite house prices increasing by 0.3% month on month in November.

There is something of a disconnect between the slowdown in the housing market n recent months and broader economic indicators, which have remained relatively upbeat.

Historically low mortgage rateshave helped to mitigate against the fact that house priceshave been outstripping income growth.

Posted in Buy to Let News, Residential Mortgage News

Fleet Mortgages releases new Product Range

Posted on 26/11/2014 by Adam

Fleet Mortgages a new mortgage lender is about to launch offering HMO Products, Limited Company Products and Vanilla Buy to Let.

The launch of the range is expected to be in early December with products already sent to distributors.

Completion fee levels on the products range from 1% on all individual buy-to-lets, 1.5% on limited company and 2% on HMOs.

The Chief executive of Fleet Mortgages, said: “It is with great pleasure that we can officially announce this first Fleet Mortgages’ buy-to-let product range which is specifically for the intermediary market and has been designed in collaboration with many adviser stakeholders.

“Our aim has been to deliver a competitive product range which focuses on the needs of the experienced landlord. Plus we have not only developed products for individuals but have also sought to offer a range which caters for, what we think, is an underserved section of borrowers – namely limited companies and HMOs.”

Vanilla Buy to Let

2.79% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 65% LTV
3.29% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 75% LTV
4.29% 5 Year Fixed Rate at 75% LTV
4.79% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 80% LTV

LTD Company Buy to Let

4.39% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 65% LTV
4.59% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 75% LTV
5.29% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 80% LTV

HMO Buy to let Products
5.29% 2 Year Fixed Rate at 65% LTV
5.39% 5 Year Fixed Rate at 75% LTV
5.99% 5 Year Fixed Rate at 75% LTV

Criteria

Rental income over 125% at the intial rate.
Minimum loan of £25k and Maximum of £750k
Income of at least £25k
Minimum 5 Year Term

Source: Fleet Mortgages and Mortgage Solutions

Posted in Buy to Let News

Brighton worst for Gazumping in UK

Posted on 25/11/2014 by Adam

Brighton topped the charts with 34.9% of people having been previously gazumped when buying a property – this is followed by 31.9% in London.

Outside of the South East the average drops from 22% to 18%. Birmingham figures show 27% of property buyers in the area have been gazumped with Sheffield at 22%, Bristol at 21%, Leeds and Nottingham at 20%.

Gazumping is not a new concept it has become a more regular occurrence across the country, the industry has responded by offering Gazumping Insurance from £80 to refund up to £1,500 in fees that have been paid to Solicitors, Valuers or Mortgage Companies.

The research also found that the higher the price of the property, the more likely you are to be gazumped.

Russell Quirk, CEO of online estate agent eMoov.co.uk, said: “It is one of those things in the current structure of property purchasing unfortunately. Buyers that have displayed honest interest in a property only to be let down by owners with pound signs in their eyes, often encouraged by traditional estate agent looking to increase his fee percentage.”

You can read also 6 Tips to avoid being gazumped, which is mainly about being prepared and being able to move fast to lockout any competition.

Source: Estate Agent Today

Posted in Buy to Let News

More Landlord Regulation; with a bribe

Posted on 30/08/2014 by Adam

The NLA is supporting the The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) as it proposes further landlord regulation, sweetens proposal with a Tax Cut bribe.

CIH recommendations include extra Housing Standard regulation above the Housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS).

Besides mandating how agents run their business by insisting on landlords pay for referencing and not tenant.

The report starts off by outlining the “challenges” prs has in that it provides bad property conditions, bad management, unaffordable homes and offer little security.

The CIH acknowledges the Housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) but is dismissed due to councils under-funding it. The suggested solution is an additional “legal backstop is needed” as 33% of the PRS does not meet “modern standards”.

The CIH acknowledges that many landlords offer “good quality” management of their properties. It goes on to suggest landlords do not know the law and uses shelter data that 700,000 tenants are living with electrical hazards (despite HHSRS legislation). The suggested solution being Accreditation Schemes.

The CIH identifies issues with “affordability”. It outlines the issue is landlords asking for Referencing, Deposit and Rent in Advance. The suggested solution being to ban referencing fees. Perhaps not understanding “cost of sales” are paid by the customer not the supplier.

The CIH acknowledges flexibility in the PRS with six month rolling tenancies. It outlines Shelter data that 10% of children have to change school due to moving home. The suggested solution being to mandate landlords offer longer tenancies via extra regulation.

The The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) who’s board is made up of Council and Housing Association staff. Today wants government to install extra regulation on how to run your business. It offers higher costs of running your small business. Including removing your flexibility to offer security on your terms.

Their is though a bribe of lower tax’s – a discount off the invoice to replace electric heaters with central heating. Of which the CIH suggest a reason why PRS does not meet “modern standards”.

The CIH trying to install Housing Association style tenant demands fails to resolve any “issues” it identifies.

Instead of extra regulation on housing standards; the CIH could have suggested council’s lift their finger against dodgy landlords. Lack of funding not being a reason to let tax payers down on their legal minimum standard of living.

The CIH fails to acknowledge that landlords want longer tenancies and easier access for tenants to housing but rental arrears and “professional tenants” remain issues. With Section 21 viewed as some as the only recourse and mortgage lenders limiting terms it can be unwise to offer longer tenancies or remove entry fees.

Instead of demanding Landlords don’t charge tenants for referencing. A “tenant certificate” from a national reference service could have been proposed; offering security yet cutting costs.

Instead of legislation to mandate how agents are run; empower landlords to instruct there agents on how they want their SME to be run.

Read CIH press release or you can download the report: More than a roof: how incentives can improve standards in the private rented sector

Posted in Buy to Let News

1% of RBS/Natwest Mortgages are Compliant

Posted on 27/08/2014 by Adam

The FCA has reported that “Only 2 of the 164 sales reviewed were considered to meet the standard required overall in a sales process.”

Failings include:

Failing to consider the full extent of a customer’s budget
failing to advise customers who were looking to consolidate debt properly
not advising customers what mortgage term was appropriate for them
advisers giving personal views on the future movement of interest rates
borrower being sold the wrong type of mortgage for them.
RBS did not adequately address the failings when concerns were raised about the quality of the advice

Taking out a mortgage is one of the most important financial decisions we can make. Poor advice could cost someone their home so it’s vital that the advice process is fit for purpose. Both firms failed to ensure that their customers were getting the best advice for them.

For the reasons given, the Financial Conduct Authority imposes on the Firms a financial penalty of £14,474,600 – (they did give them 30% discount for paying quickly! ).

The FCA outlined that 4% of RBS/Natwest mortgage sales FAILED TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE CUSTOMER.

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Just another reason to use a good Mortgage Broker; Bespoke Finance has external compliance check to ensure our process is correct and finance products not missold (files even checked on BTL, despite it not being regulated).

Posted in Buy to Let News

Property Investor Confidence (Q2 2014)

Posted on 08/08/2014 by Adam

According to research by conducted by The Mortgage Works and BDRC Continental has shown that Property Investor Confidence is growing.

Confidence in Rental Yields remain stable at 63% dropping by 1% – denoting little decrease in tenant demand/viod periods for landlords.

Whist Rental Yield Confidence remains stable, the confidence in Capital Gains between 2013 and 2014 has increased by17%.

If we keep talking rising prices; property investor confidence in capital gains will see such large increase. That confidence perhaps should be London centric with there anticipated Rental Price Increase outstripping those other regions.

Q2 2014 compared to Q1 2014, Capital Gains confidence has increased 1% but Rental Yield confidence has decreased 2%. Perhaps in relation to Benefits Changes such as Cap’s and the continued introduction of Universal Credit.

Posted in Buy to Let News

TMW now includes Rent Guarantee Insurance

Posted on 25/07/2014 by Adam

The Mortgage Works (TMW) is to offer a six month rent guarantee period to new buy-to-let customers.

The buy-to-let lender has teamed up with Rentguard Insurance to offer this feature to landlords.

TMW said it hoped the move would help ‘stabilise and professionalise’ the market.

Henry Jordan, managing director of TMW, said: “Peace of mind is particularly important for new landlords taking their first steps into buy to let and dealing with missed payments and/or tenant related issues are among their main concerns.”

“Offering new customers the benefit of such cover is just one of the ways in which TMW is helping landlords approach their buy to let investment confidently and responsibly.”

Customers can claim:

The policy pays out up to £2,500 a month in missed rent (up to a maximum
of £15,000 per claim).
It also covers landlord’s legal costs up to £25,000 per claim. This includes
any courts costs and solicitor or bailiff fees arising from any legal proceedings
which may unfortunately need to be taken against the tenant.

Steve Jones, managing director of Rentguard, said: “Rentguard are delighted to be working with TMW to provide new landlords with free rent guarantee and legal expenses cover to protect their investment; giving them increased peace of mind.”

Source: TMW Press Release and Mortgage Solutions

Posted in Buy to Let News

6 Tips to avoid being Gazumped

Posted on 24/06/2014 by Adam

The downside of a buoyant market is that buyers are prepared to pay a premium to secure the right property.

Even if that can lead to a out-bidding (gazumping) process, leading people to obtain Gazumping Insurance.

The stressful experience of the most expensive purchase of a persons life, can turn distressing if gazumped at the last minute.

It can take months from an offer being accepted to exchange – during this time you ave vulnerable to the buyer accepting a higher offer.

You can take steps to minimise the risk:

6 Tips to avoid being Gazumped

1. Finance Preparation

Before making an final offer have everything ready to go this can include a Mortgage Offer if not at the least get a Decision in Principle from a Mortgage Broker.

Have your deposit sum is in one account ready to transfer to conveyancer and provide “proof of deposit”; you have checked your credit report to ensure its all clean; you have 6 months bank statements, payslips and had your ID and proof of residence certified at the post office ready to provide to Broker and Conveyancer.

2. Find a GOOD Conveyancer

Have a conveyancer lined up; one recommended from your broker may work with them quickly for an efficient process. Once your offer is accepted – instruct them to complete the searches and start communication with the vendors conveyancers.

You really want a recommended conveyancer as those with “Quick” in there name can be the slowest! You can ask Bespoke Finance to Find a Efficient Conveyancer and provide a free quote.

3. Clear Communication with The Estate Agent

Ensure the estate agent knows you are serious; you can state that your offer is conditional on the property being withdrawn from the market, to leverage your offer to make them remove it off of the market. This may not be fruitful if the property received high amount of interest.

You can also ask your broker to provide them with a Decision in Principle certificate to provide confidence to the Agent and the Vendor.

4. Lockout Agreement

You could offer a non-refundable deposit to secure a lockout agreement. You need to make sure an experienced conveyancer handles the agreement.

If you fail to proceed then you can loose the deposit but if the vendor backs out you can obtain funds via the contract to cover your looses.

5. Chain Free

You may want to consider being chain free when you make the offer. If you currently own a house, you could sell this first and move into rented property before starting the search for your new home.

6. Exchange Quickly

Instruct your solicitor and surveyor immediately and do everything possible to speed up the process – as it’s only once you’ve exchanged that there’s no possibility of being gazumped.

7. Obtain Gazumped Insurance

If all else fails; you can obtain Gazumped Insurance to cover your costs up to £1,500 with a fixed fee of just £79.50.

Posted in Buy to Let FAQ, Buy to Let News

85% LTV comes to BTL Renovation

Posted on 12/06/2014 by Adam

A mortgage broker may recommend KRBS for their speciality; 85% Loan to Value purchase or re-mortgage product.

A more unknown company (owned by the same group as KRBS) TODAY launch a speciality of their own for your refurb projects.

Bob, a builder, from today can purchase a renovation project at 75% loan to value. This at a low rate from 0.65% per month, which can be rolled up for up to six months.

After the renovation, Lender will ask a surveyor to assess the property to get its New value.

After the refurb you will them be able to refinance at 85% of the new value.

This new product meets the demand for a mortgage product that allows a refurb period to allow you to enhance the value and earnings potential of a BTL property with the view of holding.

Removing the need of temporary and expensive bridging finance and avoids the “six month rule” on refinancing with an exit of up to 85% LTV.

Call 08009202001 and talk to an advisor.

Posted in Buy to Let News

Government issues Tenant guidance for renting

Posted on 10/06/2014 by Adam

Her Majesty’s Government has issued a guide for tenants and landlords to help them understand their rights and responsibilities.

It provides a checklist and more detailed information on each stage of the rental process.

Published 10 June 2014 by Department for Communities and Local Government part of the Improving the rented housing sector.

Posted in Lettings FAQ

Property Investor Confidence (Q1 2014)

Posted on 10/06/2014 by Adam

According to research by conducted by The Mortgage Works and BDRC Continental has shown that Property Investor Confidence is growing.

Confidence in Rental Yields remain stable at 65% – denoting no decrease in tenant demand/viod periods for landlords.

Whist Rental Yield Confidence remains stable, the confidence in Capital Gains between 2013 and 2014 has increased by 22%.

Capital Gains confidence may have increased following headlines such as “Brussels urges UK to take action on rising property prices” from the Financial Times, “rally in the UK property market has continued unabated into 2014” from Investment Week, “House prices rise £7000 in a month in largest leap” from Telegraph and perhaps Every Investor is correct with there heading “House prices driven by speculation“.

Posted in Buy to Let News

Buy to Let Barometer Q1 (from TMW)

Posted on 09/06/2014 by Adam

According to research by The Mortgage Works and BDRC Continental has shown that the average tenancy duration is 2.5 Years.

It goes on to outline those looking for Long Term Tenancies are better finding Retired Couples whom say for the longest and avoid Students who reside for the shortest time.

The portfolio size of landlords are from about 8 to 11, with the oddity of the North East with landlords owning 24! properties.

As confidence in Rental Yields remains high; Capital Gains previously at 27% confidence has increased significantly to 49%.

Thank you to The Mortgage Works for this research in there first Buy to Let Barometer of Q1.

Posted in Buy to Let News

Landbay – New P2P BTL Lender

Posted on 19/05/2014 by Adam

A new Buy to Let lender called Landbay sees its public launch today, an exciting new peer-to-peer finance option.

John Goodall, CEO

Apparently buy-to-let investors can enjoy from Landbay, competitive rates and a faster, more rational application process than banks and building societies boasting a 48hours approval process and full transparency.

Landbay

In being a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platoform it give the ability of individual people (lenders) to loan directly to property investors, with loans secured on a property.

At present Landbay only facilitates loan against residential buy-to-let properties in England and Wales.

At present Landbay facilitates 3 year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages, with a 5 year term. The minimum amount is £50,000 and the maximum is £500,000. All loans are interest only repayment.

John Goodall, cofounder and CEO of Landbay said:

“Landbay is an important new innovation that will open the door to a much broader cross section of the public to the attractive returns available from investment in Britain’s residential buy-to-let market, a sector that was worth £21 billion in new lending last year alone.”

“The peer to peer finance sector is booming in the UK, having just passed the £1 billion mark. It is great to see Britain genuinely leading the world in unlocking the huge benefits for the consumer of this breath of fresh air in finance.”

IN that Leadbay will offer finance for landlords via P2P, the company itself was in-part funded via Seedrs P2P platform.

We look forward to offering Leadbay facility at Bespoke Finance once the service is open to intermedaries.

Tagged with: Buy to let, goodall, John Goodall, Landbay, launch, lender, new, p2p
Posted in Buy to Let News

Rental Market Update 05/2014

Posted on 16/05/2014 by Adam

Data from the April 2014 HomeLet Rental Index shows a fourth consecutive monthly decrease in average rental amounts in Wales, after decreasing by 2.6% during April. Compared to a three consecutive monthly increase in average rental amounts in the South east region.

With Yorkshire and Humberside and the North East see annual decreases in average rental amounts of 3.4% and 3.5% respectively.

Average rental amounts in the West Midlands increased by 1.7%

The average cost of renting a home increased by 2.9% during April to £848 per month

Across the UK there’s been two consecutive annual decreases in the percentage of unemployed tenants moving into rented homes With the average amount a tenant in the UK earns increased by 5.9% during the past 12 months to £29,100 per annum

A recently released report published by Halifax (The Generation Rent Report 2014) shows almost half of this year’s respondents believe Britain will become a generation of renters within the next generation.

Source:

Posted in Buy to Let News