Some stats around limited company mortgages: Number of buy-to-let applications for limited companies grew to 30% in H2 2016 vs 18% for the same period the year before Amount borrowed for limited companies grew to 30% in H2 2016 vs 20% for the same period the year before Products have increased from 147 to 154 Rates [...]
There have been various reports over the past week that the Bank of England could reduce rates down to 0.25% or even 0% in a bid to avoid financial collapse. The FTSE has actually recovered higher than the level it was last Thursday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate has stabilised for now, ending at 1.21 on [...]
Buy-to-let stamp duty loophole As most of you are no doubt aware, stamp duty on second or more residential purchases now incurs an additional 3%. To get around this buy-to-let landlords are looking at semi-commercial and commercial property as stamp duty rates are much more favourable, as they do not incur this additional fee. As you [...]
3 factors that will drive up rent According to ARLA the number of properties being managed per branch has dropped year on year, from 193 to 183. 3 factors that will drive up rent: For those investors that have purchased since the stamp duty deadline they will be looking to offset the difference in what they paid against [...]
Buy-to-let investors tops 1.75m The number of buy-to-let investors in the market has increased by 7% over the last year which just goes to show that there is still a strong belief in this investment, in spite of recent tax changes. Although one needs to be careful with averages, Ludlowthompson have indicated that each investor [...]
Mortgage lenders tightening up Barclays has just increased it's rental cover requirement from 135% to 145% in line with Nationwide. Newcastle has take this even further by increasing rental cover, increasing reference rate AND reducing the number of buy-to-let properties it will lend to! It will be interesting to see how these lenders will compete with the [...]
Big slump in buyers According to Haart, new buyer demand slumped by a massive 46 percent April vs March (which was to be expected to some degree) and house prices may have hit their ceiling based on current asking prices. More significantly is the year on year comparison from the HMRC, which said that transactions in April [...]
Rental cover going up to 145% Nationwide announced last week that it is tightening up its lending criteria and other lenders may follow suit. The rental cover is what the lenders classify as the amount needed to cover your mortgage payments and expenses. They are basically hedging against higher costs, mainly in the form of [...]
House prices fall in April The Halifax announced that house prices fell by 0.8% in April after a very busy couple of months. It is too early really to read anything into that yet and many commentators are talking about property investors waiting to see what happens after the referendum. Also fundamentals are still strong in [...]
Start increasing rents now To make sure you are not caught out by the reduction in mortgage interest relief from 2017, look at your properties now and try to increase rents as soon as you can, if you are a higher rate tax payer (or will be). Doing so will mean any increases will be lower year [...]
