Your exit strategy forms a key part of your business plan for your rental property. What is your long-term plan with your buy-to-let? Do you want to hold it? Sell it? Return to it? Your answer will steer your decisions. If you’re planning to sell in the next few years, it makes sense to avoid any major upgrades unless they … Read More
Assess your rental property’s competition
Once you’ve analysed your product and your target audience, the next step in creating a business plan for your rental property is to check out the competition. How many properties similar to yours are up for rent nearby? Knowing how unique your property is for the area will help you establish how best to differentiate and market it. For example, in … Read More
Q&A: How can I reduce my buy-to-let tax bill?
Q My husband and I, both in the 40% tax bracket, own our two-bedroom flat in Islington mortgage-free. For commuting reasons, we are about to let it for £1,977 a month and rent in south London for £1,700 a month. We’re confused by all the tax changes for renting. Can we deduct the £200 monthly management fee for the Islington … Read More
Identify your rental property’s target audience
When you draw up your property business plan, think about your target audience. Which type of tenant is your property likely to attract? Who would want to live in this location, with these nearby facilities (for example, transport, schools or parks), in a property of this size, style and layout? It helps to profile your target audience so you can … Read More
Rents rise 2.2% as market recovers
After months of falling rents, the lettings market has turned a corner — driven by a recovery in London
Q&A: What landlord insurance do I need?
Q I am about to start letting the three-bedroom house that has been my family home. What kind of insurance do I need? Steve White, Manchester A Your standard home insurance is likely to be invalid if you let your property, so check your policy. As a minimum, take out landlord buildings insurance (from about £250 a year), which covers … Read More
Five ways to raise capital for a buy-to-let property investment
Raising capital is often the biggest hurdle to property investment. To cover your buy-to-let deposit, purchase fees and refurbishment costs, you could: Save. That’s the obvious answer. Avoid lifestyle inflation and put your cash aside instead. Remortgage. If your property has risen in value – because you’ve improved it or the market has gone up – you can withdraw that … Read More
Ten musts for your tenancy agreement
What an assured shorthand tenancy agreement means In almost all lets you’ll have an assured shorthold tenancy agreement, or AST, by law. That gives you and your tenant certain rights and duties that you can’t wriggle out of, even if you scribble ‘this is not a tenancy’ in big red letters all over your contract or you don’t have a … Read More
Landlord law: The serious stuff you must do to keep tenants safe
Gas safety checks, electrical tests, smoke detectors… Before you roll your eyes at the miles of red tape landlords have to disentangle, here is why it’s necessary: The £250 fire door that cost five lives A young couple, their baby son and their young niece and nephew all burnt to death trapped in their first-floor flat in Prestatyn, north Wales, … Read More
Avoid the No1 landlord mistake: create a property business plan
What’s the biggest mistake new landlords make? We have asked that question to many experts, and here’s the resounding answer: beginners don’t think of their property as a business. For accidental landlords who see their property as their home, the shift is even harder. But to make a success of letting out your property, that shift is essential. Your rental property is probably … Read More