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"Struggles of the landed gentry" An unprecidented boom in "buy-to-let" investments is coming to an end. It was good while it lasted, but the golden age of the amateur landlord may be over. https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21732481-new-regulations-and-cooler-market-are-causing-landlords-sell-up-britains-buy-let-boom

Hi I am reading los of confusing things about the future of BTL. Can someone tell me once and for all if it is true that tax will be applied to income, rather than profit, from 202? Various online articles claim that after 2020 everyone's tax bills will go up because they will have to pay tax on the entire rent received. However my tax adviser keeps telling me that there are no changes planned and I will still be able to claim relief and only pay tax on net profit! Which is correct? Also, if my advisor is wrong and I will have to pay tax on full rental income, my plan would be to switch from an interest only mortgage to a full repayment mortgage as there would be no point of using the interest to offset tax and then I can just get on with paying off the capital. Does that sound logical? Thanks Bimlam.

Hi I am reading los of confusing things about the future of BTL. Can someone tell me once and for all if it is true that tax will be applied to income, rather than profit, from 202? Various online articles claim that after 2020 everyone's tax bills will go up because they will have to pay tax on the entire rent received. However my tax adviser keeps telling me that there are no changes planned and I will still be able to claim relief and only pay tax on net profit! Which is correct? Also, if my advisor is wrong and I will have to pay tax on full rental income, my plan would be to switch from an interest only mortgage to a full repayment mortgage as there would be no point of using the interest to offset tax and then I can just get on with paying off the capital. Does that sound logical? Thanks Bimlam.

Briefly, a work colleague is in the process of selling his house and the buyer, a cash buyer agreed a price that was near enough the same as the asking price. The buyer has contacted my colleague to say that he is going to have to withdraw his offer as he can no longer afford it. Apparently, the buyer was unaware of the stamp duty changes for second homes! There were loads of people interested at first and it is actually a really nice house, but it seems all of the potential buyers have rapidly evaporated! Meanwhile, my landlord is selling up and I am seeing prices already starting to slide in North Yorkshire. I only deal with the landlord through the letting agent but there really seems to be a lot of urgency on the sale (and hence, the getting rid of me). I had an estate agent round here to value the place so I was sure to point out absolutely *all* of the many defects, and got into quite a frank discussion with him... he reckons the changes will have a "big effect round here on the supply of rental properties" which I took as a euphemism for landlords selling up in droves and a flood of supply, driving down house prices.... Hold on guys, this could be the big one! Interesting times

Hi I am seriously considering investing in a property in a city in Europe where there is a year-round demand for visitor accommodation, and also where there appears to be scope for capital appreciation. I intend my maximum outlay to be no more than £60,000. My intention is to let the property out as short-term visitor accommodation, and the ultimate objective being long-term capital appreciation. I would put management of the property in the hands of a local management company who would be responsible for furnishing and maintaining the property; collecting payment; and handling reservations. After having done some initial investigations, I would be particularly interested in the possibility of buying such a property in Berlin, as there are fewer restrictions on foreigners owning property in Germany than in many other European countries; property still appears to be relatively inexpensive there; there is a year-round demand from visitors; and the local market would still appear to offer scope for capital growth. I do not anticipate any problems in financing the purchase as I have the necessary funds readily available. I am aware of the capital gains tax condition for the sale of any property in Germany within ten years of its purchase. What I would really appreciate is if anyone may be able to enlighten me regarding the potential advantages and disadvantages of my proposed course of action. Specifically, I would be interested in your thoughts as to whether there are other areas in Germany, or elsewhere in Europe, where property is still relatively inexpensive, where the scope for capital gains is thought to be favourable, and the procedure for buying property is not considered to be too cumbersome. In addition, I would be interested to hear people’s views as to the pros and cons of buying an overseas property with the intention of letting it out for short-term visitors, as opposed to letting it out to long-term tenants. Finally, I would be very grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction regarding the following; (i) other sources of information relevant to my enquiry; (ii) any other forums devoted to overseas property investment; (iii) any UK agents specialising in overseas property, (iv) any overseas agents with offices in the UK (specifically in Liverpool, Manchester or central London). Very many thanks in anticipation of your assistance, and I look forward to hearing from you.

As some of you may know Im a handyman (as well as a LL grrrrrr!) and 90% of my work comes though letting agencies .Im seeing an increasing amount of landlords selling as new rules with water testing,smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are filtering down and costing them,Im doing more and more light refurbs to sell the property rather than paint one room and re let it ,the general feel is its going to get a lot harder to rent properties,the next 18 months will be interesting!

Consultation opened today. Have only briefly scanned. Report includes analysis of buy to let market. Anybody in the know over what this will mean for buy to let? http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/17/bank-of-england-given-powers-rein-buy-to-let-market https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-financial-policy-committee-powers-of-direction-in-the-buy-to-let-market/financial-policy-committee-powers-of-direction-in-the-buy-to-let-market#the-buy-to-let-market

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/nov/11/buy-to-let-mortgages-cml-lending-landlords-loans Guardian article stating that number of buy to let mortgages still at a high level, even after summer budget. Fascinating really, I would have assumed that the tax changes and general signalling that landlords were coming under increasing scrutiny would be dampening enthusiasm among new entrants. I wonder if these people have thought it through, are not planning on being highly leveraged or if they just haven't taken the changes into account.

The proposed taxation change to the relief given on BTL finance costs announced in the Summer Budget, together with potential macroprudential action by the Financial Policy Committee to reduce risks emanating from BTL lending, could lead to fundamental changes in the BTL lending market over the next few years. I've therefore started this thread so that we can monitor trends in BTL mortgage financing. Items are interest are (for example) changes in the levels of BTL lending on lenders' balance sheets, average LTVs of the BTL mortgage book, arrears and non-performing loans, mortgage rates, underwriting standards (e.g. minimum rental cover). Please contribute if you come across any relevant info. --------------- First up is Coventry Building Society, which reported H1 2015 results this morning. In the six months to 30 June 2015, outstanding owner occupier mortgage balances increased by £901m whereas outstanding BTL balances rose by £930m. 36.8% of Coventry BS's mortgage book is now accounted for by BTL. Mark Parsons, CEO: "Whilst the interest we pay to savers continues to be substantially above the average in the market, we believe the challenge of a historically low interest rate environment is also encouraging people to seek out higher yielding alternatives to traditional savings accounts, including the buy to let sector. In this context, we believe the relationship between savers and borrowers has changed, as many investors now look to the rental market as another means to diversify and supplement income."

Just done my daily rightmove check and in my town (semi-rural North Yorkshire) there are a LOT of buy to let properties coming on. Some vacant, some with "sitting tenants". It is remarkable how many have come on over the few days. I can only imagine that many landlords have already had enough and are looking to bail out while they can still make a profit! It's hard to see many new entrants going into, unless they are cash buyers. You'd have to be certifiably nuts to go into BTL with borrowed money now! With all the other changes being talked about and the fact that landlords are now seen as fair game, I've got a feeling that this is the start of something special :-)

I am desperately in favour of a mansion tax, but surely it should apply to the total value of your property portfolio, including any buy to lets. It would be a great way to generate some money from fat cat landlords, and very few people would complain. Such landlords could not just raise rents to compensate because there would be plenty of other landlords who would not have to pay the tax, so tenants would be protected from landlords just passing on the costs en masse. They should then plough 100% of the money into building affordable housing (social rent or open market)... Should raise a lot more money!!