Buy to let/Second house to rent out questions

Tom_the_great

Tom_the_great

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Do we have anyone who knows about this sort of thing ? Anyone done it recently etc I can Google so much but real world and knowledge first hand always worth more.

If we do I’ll post more details but basically wondering if I can/should and if it’s worth it etc.

Thanks Tom
 
I see you are in Yorkshire, but is the potential rental property in England or Scotland, because at the moment it makes a pretty big difference thanks to that odious, idiotic little creep Patrick Harvey?

Be mindful of the potential 2025 EPC requirements. A rating of C or better could be very difficult to achieve for some properties. The general impression I get is that there's a bit of a war on against Landlords and almost all of the Landlords I know have either gotten out or are getting out soon as it's just not worth it anymore, in Scotland that is.
 
I have had a very small terraced house near Huddersfield rented out for years, it has been pretty good but that was all paid for years ago, i will sell it soon as i plan to retire abroad but i am not sure if i would do it nowadays especially with high mortgage rates, to be fair its all about the tennants, mine have been great had the current set in for over 10 years. costs more than you think with yearly boiler servicing and insurance and repairs and upkeep.
 
My sister and her husband at one time owned about 25 rental properties (in England), but have been gradually selling them over recent years, due to the removal of tax advantages (no mortgage interest relief and other expenses) and the risks around inheritance tax. Recent attacks on private landlords have been the last straw, so they are getting out and planning to live off capital. If you have the money to invest, there are better places at present I suspect
 
We let out our current home, which we bought more than 30 years ago, when we felt the need to move for work reasons. We bought a house in the area we needed. In the meantime, this (the rented) house paid its own mortgage, repairs and so on , effectively making it free to own for 18 years. When it had paid off its own mortgage, we were able to retire, sell the other house and move back in.

The key points we discovered...
  • You absolutely need a reliable letting agent.
  • Don't be afraid to sack an agent if their performance starts to slip.
  • Inspect the house frequently - the agent should do this very regularly but that's where they often fail.
  • Find a solicitor who has a good reputation for representing landlords. Hopefully you'll never need them but if you do...
  • When you come to sell a house that's been let over a long period, you'll be liable to capital gains tax on the entire profit. If the house has been let for many years, this can be a very big chunk indeed. We avoided this because we sold the other house (at the time our main residence) and then moved back into this one. As this is now our main residence, and has been for more than 8 years, we've worked off the capital gains, if we ever decided to sell it. (Do take proper advice on this}
  • Make sure the rent includes an adequate allowance for repairs and renewals and put that in an interest bearing account. We did so and were glad we did, after our only bad tenant trashed the place.
I hope this helps in your decision.
 
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I bought a terraced house 8 doors down from me (so I could keep my eye on it) 15 years ago to let out when private pensions weren't doing to well. I spent a couple of grand doing it up and then the dreaded words from my daughter came 'Dad, can I rent it off you?' So her and her boyfriend have been living there CHEAPLY very CHEAPLY ever since.
 
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