NewYorkie

My investment in the Guinness Global Energy Fund is up 61%.

My IFA still asked why I wasn't interested in ESG funds... Go woke, go broke!

Apparently, we have the Rolls Royce SMNR technology available, and there was a lot of talk about them a while back. Why isn't Labour really pushing ahead with it?... Read More

You may have hit on green Ed's ultimate plan for carbon capture. Tax the family farmers into selling off their land at knock-down prices to investors, who will receive tax breaks for planting it with trees. It could explain why wealthy tree 'farmers' were let off the hook in the budget.... Read More

We are all entitled to our views as how the best ways to save the world, and your investment is clearly not a 'business' decision which most landlords must make. I hope your tenant's appreciate it.

We are already paying to make the UK a better place, and if green Ed gets his way, will be paying a lot more. My problem is, the UK is already way ahead of most other countries, and whatever else we do will make not an iota of difference to the lives of our children.... Read More

Many, many more landlords won't be worrying about this nonsense by 2030, and renters will be so desperate to find somewhere to live, the EPC rating will be the least of their concerns.... Read More

I was wondering when the 'buy my course' would appear.... Read More

You say you made money, but all I can see is you paid many, many more £ thousands over and above the small grant, for a reduction in energy costs. How long will it take for you to recoup the outlay?

As to why doesn't the government provide more funding? They know the true cost and that it really isn't the answer, despite all the virtue signalling.... Read More

I am assuming they mean gross yield, which sounds much better, but is a pointless metric.

I'm getting a 'yield' of 8.5% on my remaining BTL; and I will be getting a 9% rent increase from January; happy days. Except... there's zero profit!... Read More

I have just given notice of a 9% increase for the 3rd year in a row, for my remaining BTL in Yorkshire.

It was way below the market rent, and my mortgage had gone through the roof. I explained my predicament to my tenant and she didn't say a word. She knows she's on a good rent and will pay more elsewhere.

It's now close to the market rent, and I had hoped my mortgage would be on the way down. But with this inflationary budget, I worry my mortgage will actually start increasing again, and S21 before the RRB becomes law will be my only option.... Read More

I don't know how immigration affects Brighton [I'm sure it does, as with everywhere else!], but a big factor is the impact of the pink £. I don't know why commentators won't say it when the LGB community agrees.... Read More

My comment was deliberately naive. When I finally got to court after 15 months, my tenant had phoned the court claiming he was unwell and the judge postponed it. I'd driven 200 miles and he lived 15 minutes away! At the next hearing, the tenant simply didn't bother to turn up, and once the judge had reviewed the case, he was furious. I'd gone solely on Ground 8 - 6 months arrears, but my lawyer quickly slipped in the ASB and the fact the tenant had used a neighbour's Wi-Fi to download child pornography, in his summary.... Read More

A major problem is lenders decided to change their lending criteria, which is making it almost impossible for many existing investors to re-mortgage.... Read More

S8 Ground 8 is the most widely used. It is Mandatory. The Judge has no cause to reject it if the conditions are met, and no landlord is likely to submit a claim unless the conditions are met. As such, the Judge must grant possession, regardless of any legal aid the tenant has.... Read More

Your experiences sum up why, IMHO, BTL is no longer viable for the 'smaller' landlord, and I can only see things getting much worse.

That's not to say portfolio landlords don't suffer the same problems, and don't lose the same money, it's just that they can spread their losses [assuming they are happy to accept them!].... Read More

BTL was never my main income. 'IT' paid me well, but when I was let go at the end of 2008, my rental income served me well for a few months. No more afternoons on expenses at the Liverpool St Champagne & Oyster Bar for a while!

But if S24 had been around when I had a high salary, plus high rental income, plus high mortgages, I would have been scuppered.... Read More

True. If you look at when the PRS started to contract, it corrolates with when S24 started to bite.

'Leverage' was the model touted by the 'experts', and facilitated by the lenders, whereby newbies could enter the PRS with next to nothing, and quickly build a portfolio. Unfortunately, built on the shifting sands of interest rates!

I known of a chap who bought 12 off-plan flats in the same block... in 2007. When the crash hit, he went bankrupt and they were sold at rock-bottom prices. The impact of that was the block values never recovered, even though they are excellent and the block is very well-managed under RTM.... Read More

The MoJ says landlord s21 claims surged in Q3. This is a direct result of the RRB. The inflationary budget is also a contributory factor, with mortgage rates on the rise yet again. This will accelerate the exit of those already burdened landlords who thought mortgage rates would drop to a manageable level, which would allow them to stay in the game.... Read More

I am in a similar position with my remaining BTL, but had a lucky escape from the worst effects of s24 back in 2016.

I planned to move out of London and had remortgaged my home for £700K with the intention of letting it for a minimum of £30k pa. That, on top of additional rental income of £40k, plus being a higher rate taxpayer, brought home to me the potentially disastrous effects of s24.

I kept my London home empty (more loss for the renters) and invested the mortgage money in Investment Bonds, etc... which produced more than the rental income would have done, and zero s24 tax to HMRC. I then sold my London flat and flat up North (yet more loss to renters), and now have just the one 'problem' flat to dispose of when the time's right.... Read More

Agreed. But it didn't change the effect on the overall housing stock across the social and private sectors.

Our problem is we simply have too many people requiring social housing, exacerbated by uncontrolled immigration, most of which is prioritised for the available social housing.... Read More

I know it's easy to blame Thatcher for everything, even today, but I'm not convinced by the council house sell off argument.

A council house is occupied by a family. That family buys their council house and becomes a home owner. There is no loss to the overall availability of housing, except it is no longer available to the council when that family moves on. But that rarely happens, and if it does, they take up a property elsewhere. Again, no loss to the overall housing availability. Where it went wrong was councils didn't replace the housing which was sold off.

The answer could have been what happened to us as a family in the 70s and 80s. We [4 kids] lived in a housing association 5 storey Georgian townhouse, but when we left to buy or rent our own homes, Mum was left rattling around in this huge house. It was crying out for another large social housing family, but mum had no incentive to move.

The housing association paid her to move out. Sufficient for her to put a deposit on a small house. Win/win!... Read More

This is the same as increasing employers NICs. The additional cost is met through staff cuts and/or is passed to the consumer. But who will the employee blame when they face a pay cut or lose their job?... Read More