18/06/2009 by bill.

We have all read about MPs “flipping” their properties in order to avoid capital gains tax on selling their second homes, but most people do not realise that it is perfectly legal for anyone with a second home or buy to let property to do so.

Click here for a fascinating article in the June issue of Tax Inside Lite.

For more about tax on rented property see Direct Gov. It is advisable to consult an accountant or tax adviser on how to minimise your tax liability. See also the UK Property Tax Portal.

Click here for more information for buy to let investors.

Posted in Tax, Buy to Let | Print | No Comments »

08/06/2009 by bill.

The recent signs of some recovery in the UK housing market may tempt investors to consider getting into Buy To Let. We strongly recomend that you thoroughly research the options and risks and seek professional advice before investing.

A good place to start is the moneyjungle.net Buy to Let Investment section.

Remember that rent is taxable and you may have a capital gains tax liability if you sell a property at a profit. The Direct Gov website is a useful source of information and it is advisable to consult an accountant or tax adviser on how to minimise your tax liability.

The inexperienced buy to let investor should consider using the services of a letting agent to manage their property, a letting agent will charge 10% or more of the rent to do so although this cost can be offset against tax.Property Portfolio Software provides solutions to help self managing landlords get better organised when managing multiple properties. Their software solutions are designed by landlords for landlords and are guaranteed to save you time, money and effort in running all aspects of your property business.

Invest with moneyjungle.net

Posted in Buy to Let, Property | Print | No Comments »

05/05/2009 by bill.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of consumers’ money is lost each year to unprotected, unprofessional and unethical letting agents.

In a survey by the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA), 95% of consumers revealed that they believe letting agents should be licensed and it is a shock for many to learn that there is currently no scheme in place at all.

A growing number of tenants and landlords are losing out to cowboy agents in the following ways:

• Loss of funds through a lack of client money protection • No professional indemnity insurance in place to protect a consumer from a serious error;

• Loss of monies due to the unlicensed agency holding the funds going into administration;

• Poor advice to landlords, for example about their legally-required deposit protection responsibilities, which can result in loss of the deposit for tenants and/or a fine for landlords;

• No commitment to best practice or any form of independent redress scheme for when things go wrong.

To prevent the practices listed above, and offer assurance to consumers, ARLA is today launching a Licensing Scheme for its members, thereby establishing the highest standards for letting agents in the UK.

As of today, all ARLA members will need to be licensed as part of their membership, which includes the following implications:

• Each individual member will hold a gold standard professional qualification relating to lettings;

• All members must undertake Continuing Professional Development

• Agents must ensure they have client money protection schemes in place to protect all tenant and landlord funds held by their office;

• All clients funds require to have an annual independent audit

• Agents must have professional indemnity insurance in place;

• Agents must sign up to an independent redress scheme;

• Agents must abide by a strict code of practice.

None of the above is compulsory for letting agents as standard at the moment.

ARLA’s sister organisation, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) will follow suit with the launch of its own licensing scheme later this year.

ARLA website

Click here for information for landlords and buy to let investors.

Click here for information about renting a home in the UK

Posted in Renting a home, Buy to Let | Print | No Comments »

27/03/2009 by bill.

Monthly house prices in England and Wales fell by 2 per cent in February, according to the latest figures from Land Registry. The average house price is now £153,862 and represents an annual decrease of 16.5 per cent.

In London the average price fell 15.6 per cent annually to £298,563.

It is the eighteenth month in a row where the annual rate of change has fallen, in contrast to 21 months of uninterrupted increases in the average annual rate of change between December 2005 and August 2007.

The North West was the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of –4.1 per cent.

If you are thinking of buying a home see moneyjungle.net

Posted in Buy to Let, House Prices | Print | No Comments »

26/09/2008 by bill.

If you are buying or selling or renting out a home you will by law need a Energy Performance Certificate. From 1st October 2008 EPCs will be required whenever a building is built, sold or rented out. The certificate provides A to G ratings for the building, with A being the most energy efficient and G being the least, with the average up to now being D.

For more information about buying or renting a home, see moneyjungle.net.

Posted in Energy Performance Certificates, Renting a home, buying a home, Buy to Let | Print | No Comments »

18/06/2008 by bill.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are required as part of the Home Information Pack (HIP) for any home that is put up for sale.

Landlords will be required to obtain an EPC for any property that is rented out after 1st October 2008. The EPC will provide the tenant with information on the energy efficiency of their property provideing ‘A’ to ‘G’ ratings for the building, with ‘A’ being the most energy efficient and ‘G’ being the least, with the average to date being ‘D’.

Accredited energy assessors produce EPCs alongside an associated report which suggests improvements to make a building more energy efficient.

An EPC for rented property is valid for 10 years.

For more information on EPCs see the DirectGov website.

Click here for more information for buy to let landlords.

Click here for information about renting a property.

Posted in Energy Performance Certificates, Renting a home, Buy to Let | Print | No Comments »

23/09/2007 by bill.

The Northern Rock difficulties added uncertainty to a property market that was already cooling. Most experts now forecast further falls in the growth in house prices with little or no increase over the remainder of this year and into next year. Some estate agents are even reporting prices falling slightly in some regions of the UK.

Higher risk borrowers are likely to find it more difficult to get mortgages in the future or face higher interest rates. This could impact on the number of first time buyers but also on the buy to let market that has shown so much growth over recent years.

However, the turmoil in financial markets may put pressure on the Bank of England to lower interest rates and we are already seeing some reductions in the interest rates for fixed term mortgages from some lenders.

Lenders may be reluctant to lend as much to borrowers considered to be high risk although Abbey is offering loans of up to 125% of a property value to first time buyers. If property prices do stop rising or even fall this raise the prospect of some buyers finding themselves with negative equity. See moneyjungle.net for advice to anyone seeking a mortage to buy a home.

See moneyjungle.net for more information for home buyers or buy to let investors.

Posted in Mortgages, Buy to Let, House Prices, Property | Print | No Comments »

28/07/2007 by bill.

Recent events have highlighted the need for home insurance cover and yet it is reported that a quarter of those living in rented accomodation have no home contents insurance.

Contents only insurance need not be expensive and it is false economy not to take out cover for your treasured possessions.

See the moneyjungle personal insurance page for more information.

Check out Churchill and Direct Line

It goes without saying that landlords and buy to let investors must take out buildings insurance cover. See the moneyjungle business insurance page for information.

Companies worth checking out include Endsleigh and Insurance Choice.

Posted in Home insurance, Buy to Let, Insurance | Print | No Comments »

05/07/2007 by bill.

The Bank of England expected to raise the lending rate to 5.75 percent today partly due to concerns about ongoing house price inflation with a further increase widely predicted later in the year. But at the same time Land Registry data shows that the price of apartments is falling behind other types of property and prices are falling in some areas.

We have pointing explaining for many months that anyone considering buying a house should thoroughly reseach their local market. National or regional statistics are not reliable, home buyers should look at local trends and at differences between types of property.

At the micro level property prices are going to reflect supply and demand, if demand in part of the market, for example through building of new apartments, is met prices will reflect this.

Another factor affecting demand may be a slowing down in investors buying property to let as increasing borrowing costs result in falling returns - over the past few years buy to let investors have tended to snap up apartments as soon as they have come on the market, if this is no longer the case it will be good news for the first time buyer who has not been able to afford to get on the home ownership ladder. 

For advice about buying a home in the UK see moneyjungle.net.

Posted in Buy to Let, Interest rates, House Prices, Property | Print | No Comments »

25/06/2007 by bill.

Amid reports that, in some areas, landlords are having increasing difficulty in finding tenants, property prices may have peaked and increased interest rates are reducing returns, potential buy to let investors may be questioning whether now is the right time.

On top of that there appears to be a concerted media campaign to persuade the new chancellor to remove tax relief on buy to let mortgage interest to create a level playing field for first time buyers. It is also proposed that landlords will be required to obtain energy certificates for rented property from next year.

It is difficult to see how the government could remove tax relief when it is genuine business cost although the pressure does seem to be growing with campaigners pointing to buy to let investors driving up prices making homes even less affordable for first time buyers.

But energy certificates are probably inevitable if the government is serious about tackling household carbon emissions.

The experts seem to agree that buy to let remains a sound investment for the experienced property investor who has a viable business plan and is taking a  longer term view, but that the days when buy to let was a sure way for anyone to make money in the short term may be over for the time being.

For more about buy to let see moneyjungle.net.

Posted in Buy to Let, Property | Print | No Comments »