UK Landlord Forum / Life

Are there any other landlords out there who have weighed up all the information,read the runes,done the sums and decided to do absolutely nothing?
I don't want to pay out the new rates of CGT,I don't want to try to sell with tenants in situ,I don't want to evict good people who will struggle to pay higher rents.
I can't bear the thought of all the hassle.I am going to wait and see how things pan out.A change of govt.could make it easier,or worse for landlords.I am taking that gamble. 

Yeah, pretty much. It doesn't feel like a time to be buying (I know I always say that...) but, if you've got decent tenants and you're not mortgaged up to the eyeballs, it doesn't feel like there's a pressing need to jump ship either.

Besides, there aren't a lot of other investments making decent money at the moment so, with inflation the way it is, what would you do with the money if you did cash out?

I have a bunch of Tenants that show no inclination of wanting to move. That status quo could remain for the next five years, I think. So my plan is to maintain and, possibly, improve and raise the rent modestly year on year - all the time paying down a lot of remaining debt. Maybe all. I think it's a real possibility. I have one property that I would sell in a heartbeat but conditions will never allow that (city-centre high-rise, cladding issues etc.). I would like to buy a project to do up (more likely renovate, not just a repaint job, maybe a bungalow) and then let out - but I won't just go and buy another ready-to-go house to simply let out. I might need to wait until I'm 55 and I can take 25% of my private pension tax-free (as I spent most of my liquid cash on crypto. in the last year and that hasn't gone too well so far... although it should). I've already researched "can you buy a house with crypto.?" and it turns out that you might be able to, even now.

I've just sent out the rent increase emails to all Tenants last week... between £15 and £20 per month only, truly modest... boil those frogs, I say... seems like nothing (I feel like a car dealer enquiring about "your monthly budget"), but it all adds up when any mortgage you have is a fixed rate. I have had several "OK, we understand" responses already and one "Rent increase more than acceptable to us" which was nice. So - answer = stick.

I am glad I am not the only one hanging on in there. There have been so many alarming stories over the years that have come to nothing.It's a bit like those health journalists.One day coffee prevents cancer,the next day it causes it.In the past couple of months there have been articles in the financial press saying the bottom has fallen out of BTL ,followed by bullish comments, for landlords it's a buyer's market.I am not in hock,but I can see how hard it is for those with mortgages.Despite everything I still think that bricks and mortar are a good long-term investment.     

If you didn't think bricks and mortar are it for you, I can steer you away from crypto. (unless you actually like emotional ups-and-downs on an almost daily basis). Ah, how I dream of that bungalow renovation...

I am risk averse,so I would sooner wager on a game of Russian Roulette that buy crypto.Mind you,when I got my first BTL I was one of the first to get such a mortage,they had not long been available.Some people I told thought it was quite a crazy thing to do,the idea horrified them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65422183

Bloody hell! How on earth do average people on ordinary salaries afford that? It's much more than many mortgages would cost,but of course the deposits required are also very high.

I've just given myself a shock by looking at what the going rate for a bog standard 3 bed semi is around here. I'd assumed they were sitting around the £250k mark but everything seems to be well north of £300k now. A 300k mortgage at 4% gets you to a grand a month just on the interest.

Now I don't know how a three bed semi in Whitnash compares to the national average rental property, but I can easily see how that average rental figure is plausible, even if it's a struggle to see how it's viable.