Call to punish owners of empty properties in the UK
We were pleased to read this week the GMB union, which represents over 600,000 workers across the public and private sectors is calling for stronger penalties from the Government against landlords who leave their properties empty. A review into housing across the UK has revealed…
The Green Deal: A Sensible Option
The Green Deal: A Sensible Option Recent figures released by the National Landlords Association suggest that over half of Britain’s landlords plan to install energy-saving technologies at their properties as part of the government’s Green Deal initiative, creating more green properties across the UK. The…
The Crowdfunding Message Is Spreading!
The Crowdfunding Message Is Spreading! We enjoy looking back over our early blog messages just to see how very far we have come since those days. Crowdfunding has become absolutely huge over the last few years, and property crowdfunding is taking the lion’s share of…
The value of property revival
At a time when high-street shops are struggling more than ever, it is a welcoming relief to learn that the Government, following on from Mary Portas’s High Street Review, will be implementing a number of high street – Town Team pilots across England to further…
UK mortgage lending famine harms worse off the most
Figures from the price comparison website Moneysupermarket have revealed the number of mortgages available to borrowers with a 10% deposit is down by more than a quarter in the last year, whilst bank loans supporting buyers with a 5% deposit have dropped by a third…
The draw of the crowds
We came across an intriguing read amongst the pile of predictions and analysis of the Premier League kick off last weekend. A study by Halifax has discovered that property prices near Premier League football clubs have increased much faster than average over the past decade….
Are We FSA Regulated?
New property investors often ask this question. The answer is actually contained in our FAQs, but to let all our property investors know, here is the position: The FSA regulates various matters including CIS (Collective Investment Schemes) and OEIC (Open Ended Investment Companies). When we…
A decade of scant reward predicted for individual buy-to-let investors
The latest analysis by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has revealed that UK buy-to-let investors can expect an average return of just 3% between now and 2025.The projected 3% return is calculated before tax, but does take ‘expected’ running costs into account. Given that many buy-to-let investors…
Why ‘Sophistication’ Isn’t Needed For Crowdfunded Investments
“Risky and complexâ€; is how the FSA described crowdfunding this week. It has released new information which informs consumers that most crowdfunded investment opportunities are unregulated, adding that while many offer higher returns than mainstream investments, the rarity of dividends and a lack of a…
Buy to Let Property Boost in Manchester
Could the bright lights of London finally be fading, as tenants search to avoid the high premiums of renting in the capital and instead look to Manchester, a city close to our hearts? The buy-to-let market in Manchester has become increasingly popular over the last…