Investing in UK Buy-to-Let Accommodation
Stocks and shares, gold, bonds…none of these can you ask the bank to lend you the money for it, and you don’t even need to pay down the balance of the loan. The bank will let you repay it in the future, providing you pay them the interest on the loan each month.
The way buy-to-let works is that you purchase a property on a freehold or leasehold basis, meaning as far as the land registry are concerned you are the legal owner of the property. Once you own it, you have a responsibility to maintain the property, service any loan repayments, and pay for utilities. However, once you own the property you can then rent it to a tenant for a period of time, usually a minimum of 6 months on an AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement), for a pre-agreed fixed rental figure. The income you receive should cover your loan repayments, cover any maintenance costs, cover any utility bills (usually the tenant is responsible for these), and give you some money left over at the end of each month.
Should I buy with a mortgage or cash?
As an example, if a property was £100,000 and rented for £5,000 per year your yield would be 5%. If you invested purely with cash, your return on investment would be 5%. However, if you purchased with a mortgage, the figures might look something like this:
Purchase Price: £100,000
Deposit: £25,000
Mortgage: £75,000
Annual Income: £5,000
Annual Mortgage Payments @ 2.5% Interest: £1,875
Net Annual Income: £3,125
Return on Investment: 12.5%
For the purposes of the above example we haven’t factored in any stamp duty or legal/broker fees, or taxes, however you can see the difference in return.
With mortgage finance, you can also refinance the property every 2-5 years depending on your mortgage product, and providing the property has gone up in value, you should be able to release some funds for a second, third, fourth etc investment. This is how to build a portfolio using just one initial pot of cash.
Other things to factor when investing in buy-to-let are your stamp duty payments, as investors are now required to pay an additional 3% surcharge on buy-to-let properties. Click here for an online Stamp Duty Calculator – be sure to click Additional Property to get the most accurate figure.
Taxes on buy-to-let properties are also currently changing. Previously investors could deduct their mortgage interest payments as a tax-deductible expense, however from 2020 investors will be taxed on the full rental income. The way to counteract this is to invest through a limited company SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) purely set up for investing in property. The investor becomes the owner and director of the company, and still has to carry out the same checks when applying for the mortgage (affordability, credit check etc). It is essentially a tax wrapper for the investment. Check out our blog on investing through a limited company, or contact a specialist tax advisor to discuss your personal situation.
Current Buy-to-let Investment Opportunities
Vision Manchester
Starting from £170,000
York City Apartments
Starting from £170,000
City Co-Living, Salford
Starting from £199,950
Residential Buy-to-let Investments
Buy-to-Let property investment in the UK is proven to be one of the most resilient asset classes available to investors. Having demonstrated long-term price growth across the country and with projections for excellent capital appreciation in the coming years, buy-to-let property investment continues to be an incredibly popular investment.
Rental investment properties are bought with the sole intention of letting them out in order to generate an income, with that purpose in mind where and what you buy will dictate the success of your investment – taking guidance from experienced UK property investment consultants can ensure investors make well-informed decisions.
Buy-to-let property investment is one of the only asset classes where you can put down as little as 20-25% of the value of the asset and ask the bank to pay for the rest!
Current Buy-To-Let Investment Opportunities
City Co-Living, Salford
Starting from £199,950
Vision Manchester
Starting from £170,000
York City Apartments
Starting from £170,000
Investing in buy-to-let property
Should you buy an investment property as a buy-to-let you will need a buy-to-let mortgage instead of a residential one. Whilst this can mean a higher cash deposit is required and the credit checks are more stringent, many investors choose to take a mortgage as the returns can be far greater than investing simply with cash.
As a landlord, you have a responsibility to maintain the property, service any loan repayments and ensure everything is in place for a tenant to safely and happily reside in the property.
On a well-bought investment property, the income you receive from tenants should cover your loan repayments, cover any maintenance costs and give you some money left over at the end of each month.
Should I buy an investment property with a mortgage or cash?
As an example, if a property was £100,000 and rented for £5,000 per year your yield would be 5%. If you invested purely with cash, your return on investment would be 5%.
However, if you purchased with a mortgage, the figures might look something like this:
Purchase Price: £100,000
Deposit: £25,000
Mortgage: £75,000
Annual Income: £5,000
Annual Mortgage Payments @ 2.5% Interest: £1,875
Net Annual Income: £3,125
Return on Investment: 12.5%
For the purposes of the above example we haven’t factored in any stamp duty, legal fees, potential broker fees or the applicable taxes, however, you can see the difference in return and the potential benefits of buying an investment property with a mortgage.
