Its time to get out of the business the rra is the latest in legislation which has been worsening since blair, on the other side councils allow no empty time and pursue you relentlessly for ctax even when its down to an exiting tenant. The councils are getting more dominant with licensing etc and advise tenants to stay put until evicted. The courts are backed up
We are selling everything now before they ramp up cgt again. This will be painful. This government has taken the redistribution of wealth and destruction of small businesses to a whole new level. Maybe keep one property as otherwise you will have nothing to offset your expenses against as you cant claim expenses backwards.
I don’t fully understand the CGT system anymore, it used to be easy, an allowance of around 11k then you payed a percentage, now it seems to be a 2k allowance and the rest is thrown into your income, I know there are online calculators but I would rather my accountant give me the heads up.
My gut feeling is that the PRS is going the wrong way, and is being taken away from small time landlords, the EPC thing is just adding far more insecurity to the whole thing.
I am a full time landlord and former tradesman, and consequently I have offered a quick repair service and I’m always there for my tenants, with a fully equipped van. It is time to start selling and either spend or diversify the money, what I do with the money I don’t know as I’m a property person and actually enjoy the speculation. Holiday let’s seem to be taxed out of existence too, so that looks like a no go.
The last property I bought in 2023 was a central York apartment, that has proved to be a superb return and now I wish all my properties were there, this property was bought as my retirement base, so it is a one off for me.
I have decided to start selling as all the bad news is affecting my nerves, when in reality I should be enjoying the best years of my life!
here’s an alternative point of view. All the shakes in the letting sector have only made me more thankful that there are alternative ways to make your money work which are far less stressful and carry far less risk. Seeing as you and I seem to be similar ages Alan, we can be so grateful that this is happening now, when we can comfortably exit the sector, rather than decades ago when we were just getting into it.
Would you rather leave a sinking ship at the end of the cruise or just after boarding?
Yes I fully agree, we have had a good run, when it all seemed exciting and profitable, now it’s just bad news. I have got to the point when people ask “what do you do?” I just say I’m a sparky. This is because of the demonisation of landlords.
What are your alternative investments? I am currently looking at gold but of course so is every body else!
Boosting my private pension is another option, I already own a property overseas (Spain) and they too have had a few scares with the EPC thing, but I’m sure in Spain will “find a way round it”.
In reality as I’m risk averse it will be pension, Isas, gold, and investing in holidays.
For me like yourself it’s time to cash in and enjoy, the stars have aligned and they are pointing to the exit.
Not so bad with me I sold 2 place for double what they cost 7years ago. Put rents up to make up for government imposed costs and have a few commercials, which are quite good. Best years have gone in renting, best years of my body has also gone !!
got the same amount as all our property is worth invested across ESG funds, some Triodos crowdfunders (risky but good returns), most of it is ISA wrapped and pensions are maxed out within those investment funds to maximise tax breaks. We’ve got an excellent IFA who is worth way more than the fees we pay. As we liquidate properties, the cash will go into those managed funds to offset the drawdown we still need for school fees over the next 13 years.
I had an EPC done on a converted flat ..came back as an E as the assessor didnt ask to see any of the planning paperwork or building info that I had in a file to show him
I spoke to my estate agent who said she thought that was poor and sent out a different assessor who spent 20 mins looking at said paperwork and info….he redid EPC ..a high C…and he queried why previous assessor didnt check..then reported it back to regs people.
You underline the nonsense of it all…. There is no level playing field.
example
I have a flat in a city centre…. I looked at the other 10 flats in the blocks Epc’s and I they varied from e to b.
I had recently upgraded my flats electrical heating system and included smart controls.
I observed that a certain Epc advisor was giving out higher than expected ratings in my block. So lo and behold I contracted him and I was awarded with a B rating….
I feel bad for playing the system to be awarded a higher rating but this is the sad times we live in….