Buy-to-let (Photo credit: Alan Cleaver)
Writing in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph respected Property Journalist Graham Norwood fingered Pimlico as the nation’s number one Buy To Let hot spot.
In a typical “New Year” article Graham explains why thousands of people have resolved to dive into the only housing sector that is truly booming: buy-to-let (BTL).
- Average UK rents have risen by 13.6 per cent since 2009
- Capital values in most places have stagnated or fallen.
- The proportion of households renting has increased in the past decade from 31 per cent to 36 per cent. In Westminster, for example, four out of every 10 homes are privately rented, not owned.
Graham’s Top 10 buy-to-let hot spots in 2013
1 London, Victoria/Pimlico
2 Maidenhead
3 Exeter
4 Cambridge
5 Bristol
6 Milton Keynes
7 Inverness
8 Aberdeen
9 London, Canary Wharf
10 Central Manchester
Graham’s How to be a buy-to-let landlord Check List
• Do your research. Pick a sector: students, professionals, first-time buyers or retirees?
• Buy in winter when sellers are anxious and may sell cheaply
• Don’t buy in a large scheme.
• Choose areas with diverse employment, great transport links, such as Reading and Southampton
• Find the right mortgage, or remortgage your main home if this option is cheaper.
• Most buy-to-let mortgage offers require at least a 25 per cent deposit – a few want 40 per cent
• Avoid ground-floor flats, which tenants believe are security risks
• Family homes rent well if they are in key school catchment areas.
• Aim for five per cent return on your investment per year
• If you use a letting agency, ensure it is Association of Residential Letting Agents-registered
