Buy to Let in the UK, your experiences?

I had to sell my Aussie investment property before moving to the UK, as I would be hit for much higher income tax and CGT if we decided to stay in the UK long-term. Buying a rental property in the UK looks quite attractive, anyone like to share their experiences?

No experience yet, but we are looking to before the end of the year. We are thinking of a city centre apartment in Manchester probably. Previously we had let out our own home, but that was not a buy to let.

I will also watch with interest as we would like to do the same.

Very good experience with a great tenant who has been in our house for last 3 years.

Our managing agent does a good job, in general.

However it it is a lottery. You need to get any prospective tenants fully vetted.

I am looking at a UK crowd funded property investment to make a smaller investment in the future.

It is extraordinarily competitive out there even though I feel that the horse has almost bolted on this one...- People still turning to BTL as alternative investments fail to deliver and seems to be plenty of money in UK to invest. We have been renting our family house out in the UK for 9 years - it is in a country village and because it has a large garden etc, not very cost beneficial but we care less about this and invest in it as we are returning to it. We'd be better off with a small flat near the station if doing it for investment purposes. As more and more people are squeezed out of the housing market then BTL remains a money spinner in some areas but with entry level for apartments in my home town being 300K plus not financially viable locally for me. At some stage I would envisage a tidal wave of sentiment against the current political environment which could see the introduction of rent controls, tax disincentives for BTL but not under Tory rule.

The first thing to appreciate is it is nowhere near as good an investment as it is in Australia - no negative gearing for a start and landlords are much more protected in Australia - a tennent has to be two months behind on the rent before you can even apply to the court to have them evicted.

Getting good tennents is probably a worldwide challenge but depending where you are in the UK there isn't the day transient population - we've got a small 3-bed which we rent out at £650 a month and finding a tennent who actually passes the credit checks can be a challenge - homeownership is still a goal for most in the UK.

I've had rental properties on and off for 17 years doubled my money in 7 years on the first, currently in negative equity on the one bought in 2008 or rather a loss on the purchase price.

So long as you are investing for the long term then I still think property is a

good option but use your ISA allowances in full first.

Will reply when back in UK, in Majorca with limited internet. Have rented out for 20 years in UK. can help a bit.

At some stage I would envisage a tidal wave of sentiment against the current political environment which could see the introduction of rent controls, tax disincentives for BTL but not under Tory rule.

Good grief some will take every opportunity to have a go at the Torys, regardless of whether there are any Actual facts. I have attended quite a few tax seminars lately and without exception, every lecturer has commented on the much tighter tax environment and anti tax avoidance regime that Torys have introduced. I have heard time and time again that people "would not dare" to use some of the schemes and loopholes that were rife under the Labour administration.

As for tax disincentives for BTL, well there were never that many incentives anyway, not being possible to offset other income against rental losses. However one change introduced is that relief on some expenses will be at basic rate only, even if the tax on rental income itself will be at higher rate. So that is an unfavourable change for landlords that this Tory rule has introduced. I cannot remember the others and can't be bothered to go and get my notes, but I can assure you none were favourable to the landlord /taxpayer.

No experience yet, but we are looking to before the end of the year. We are thinking of a city centre apartment in Manchester probably. Previously we had let out our own home, but that was not a buy to let.

Are you going to do your own research or are you thinking of using one of the companies who source those properties for you?

I let my house out when I moved to Aus some 15 yrs ago. Get a good agent.

I let my house out when I moved to Aus some 15 yrs ago. Get a good agent.

Second this about agents. I was pretty naive when I let my house out and didn't test the market re: agents. I'm sure I could have got my charges down. My agent is a bit like a chocolate teapot but I haven't actually heard of anyone who's got a good one.

Re: credit checks - we took someone who had defaulted in the past on credit, but came with a guarantor. These tenants have never missed a payment since the start of the lease. This contrasts to the previous (passed with flying colours) tenants who used to be a month or so late from time to time, and our managing agent used to contact me to say 'they'll be a little late this month' like it was no big deal.