I’m a private landlord with two flats, both of which are one’s I’ve lived in and ending up keeping. The income’s been great but after 13 years I’ve decided to sell up.
It’s in London and I’d always thought but needs a fair bit of work doing to it, I’m pretty sure any profit I’ve made will be going back in to it.
Just interested in hearing whether other people are deciding now is the time to get out?
I’m certainly considering, the price I could get would be a nice gain and the government seems so anti-landlord that I worry even worse regulation is coming down the line, this is from the tories so imagine how bad it will be under labour! I don’t consider myself a bad landlord at all but I really don’t want the trouble of benefits claimants, pets, etc. It all seems stacked in favour of the tenants, they can get up and leave at the drop of a hat but if we do the same thing in reverse we are evil blood suckers.
Definitely going to sell up. As with original poster, I have severl properties all except one I or my children have previously lived in, and we chose to keep. Mine are in Wales, my partner has a house in London which she lets. All will be sold in near future as due to the constant ‘anti landlord’ vibe from government, and difficulties landlords face when dealing with bad tenants.
The change in contracts in Wales on top of all the other stuff coming down the track will virtually collapse the PRS there.
The welsh goverment is full of idiots But then look around the world , it is run by idiots mostly I lived there in Denbighshire in the old mill house. But do not have properties there that I rent out thank goodness
We will be selling up if our tenants give notice, or sooner if legislation gets more anti-landlord.
We have one two-bedroomed flat, built in 2014, which we bought to rent out with the proceeds of an inheritance.
Whilst the present tenants are excellent, we don’t want to go through the hassle of renting again, especially with more onerous legislation; nor do we want to run the risk of having bad tenants.
We are both in our early 70s.
I am going to reduce by 50% and currently have a single mother in one , did have three but singles but not anymore all I want is working professionals
Choosing to sell or keep depends mostly on what you want to achive analyzing either options. For instance if want a steady income I would renovate and keep it, or want some cash and sleep well, sell it provided you will be making a substantial profit after tax.
Is not an easy question to answer. I wouldn’t bother to much about anti landlord legislation especially if you are renting in London.
Also getting to the point where we’re too old to deal with all the ill-conceived s*#t being thrown at landlords by virtue signalling politicians on both left and right. We would have sold up long ago if the pandemic hadn’t made it harder. We’ve sold one property, hope to sell a second very soon. We had to re-rent our last one because the overheads were making it too expensive to leave empty but will sell as soon as they leave. A huge sigh of relief when that happens.
We are keeping ours, similar to you, two flats (1beds), in South East London. We have let them at a very high standard and have been quite picky about only letting two working professionals. So far, so good. I agree with all the anti-landlord sentiment. Really bothers us. But we still make good income after all that. What worries us more are the huge interest rate hikes that are coming!
Yes selling up, due mostly to the anti landlord rhetoric. One less rental unit on the market.
A convenient gap opened up with our tenant leaving. The EA wants the keys urgently as he’s got viewers waiting, even before checking out day.
Flats may have their issues but they can be remarkable value for money to buyers. And the one we’re selling is sufficiently modern to be pretty warm in winter.
The question is whether you can find an equally profitable return on the capital you will have to invest if selling up, considering the capital appreciation and the rental income.
Unless, of course, you do not need the income or investment returns, then it’s a no brainer, considering all the legislation associated with letting in the PRS.
If the development climate in my location becomes “hot”, I would sell up my letting portfolio in a heart beat.
On the horizon we have (i) higher - much higher - interest rates, (ii) ECR requirements (good luck to anyone renting out houses, getting it up to a C standard will be costly, (iii) a recession, a lot of tenants are going to lose their incomes and won’t be able to pay rent (iv) a Labour government when both parties seem to want to outdo each other in terms of who can be nastier to landlords
Shortly the house building will collapse . Timber is triple the price from 3 years ago, steel is triple, bricks are double, plaster and electrics have doubled. in price. concrete is double and so on. brickies can now earn £250 a day , joiners also. I could go on . the slowdown will happen . i have seen it a couple of times. Prices of food will go on up and not be as readily available. Worrying about being a landlord and /or selling up will be the least of our problems.
(ii) will just lead to rent increases, won’t it? As long as tenants can pay (which is a big IF) it wouldn’t be a problem for landlords. (iv) will probably be better for everyone including landlords.
I think (iii) is the problem, I should have put that at (i). However, I also worry about fuel shortages this winter - Germany has already started rationing.
On the selling up front, I seem to have found a buyer within 10 days of the ex-BTL going on the market. Just under asking price. Solicitor engaged. I think the already existing shortage of rental properties has helped a lot to find a quick buyer. That buyers circumstances mean they would have also been searching for a rental, then realised that the better deal is to buy on a mortgage.
I think that landlords wanting to sell up at the lower priced end of the property market will be pleasantly surprised.
I’d definitely worry as a London landlord. Look at the way that the GLA is bossing Londoners around with all the new street blocking and ULEZ regulations. It’s a dead cert that similar meddling is on the horizon with the rental market.
Just read this in the newspaper
On average, Hamptons said, the market is losing 3,874 landlords a month net
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/1036/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/1036/pub/1036/page/105/article/NaN
“A spokesman for the Department for Housing said: Good landlords have nothing to fear from our rental reforms, which will give tenants greater security to challenge unreasonable rent rises and poor practice.”
And that’s the nub of the issue. I don’t believe one landlord in the UK trusts the politicians on this. Not even BTL owning MPs!
You are right You cannot trust L/A ,Shelter or ANY goverment
let’s hope next PM gives us some relief