UK Landlord Forum / Life

We've talked about this couple before, the Wilsons, after they were on a property documentary for being the King and Queen of the buy-to-let market:



They came across as idiots to me, as they were driving through Kent pointing out all the houses they owned. Mr and Mrs Wilson, ex-maths teachers started buying up property from 2003.

In little more than a decade, they climbed the property ladder faster than anyone else in Britain. In a frantic series of deals, sometimes buying several houses a day, Judith and Fergus Wilson used cheap buy-to-let finance to snap up hundreds of homes, mostly around Ashford in Kent.

When house prices were soaring and the economy riding a tide of cheap credit, their personal wealth was rising more than £25,000 a day. They purchased so many properties that they were actually controlling the house prices in the Ashford area.

Now, having snapped up over 900 properties, they're starting to sell. Mortgage rates are becoming undesirable and tenants are struggling to pay rent on time, if at all.

Will the Wilsons walk away with millions or be left with crumbs from a collapsing market? They're cautious about precise figures, but reckons their properties are worth "around £250m" and that the typical loan-to-value is around 65%. That suggests they have an equity cushion of some £90m - and a mortgage of about £160m.

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I personally think they've taken on more than they can handle. Their intentions doesn't even make sense to me. Why would you keep on buying after making so much money? As each day passes, I imagine their pockets are getting a little lighter. I can't imagine how difficult it will be to sell so many properties; one thing is for sure, it certainly won't be as easy as buying them.

There was a follow-up to this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/oct/13/fergus-judith-wilson-buy-to-let-empire?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487