The New Political Climate and Selling Your Property

June 21st, 2017

You may have read our previous commentary on the 2017 Snap Election and its potential broader effects on the UK property market. In this post, given the surprising result of a hung parliament, we thought it be worthwhile putting down some of our revised thoughts. With Theresa May´s Conservative government failing to get the majority to push forward the “strong and stable” leadership in the up-and-coming Brexit negotiations, we were wrong to assume that there would not be any major shake ups in Parliament. … [Read More]

Keeping Up to Date With Your Mortgage Payments

May 24th, 2017

Reflecting on what has been almost a decade since the onset of the credit crisis, many would remember how the country was plunged into a period of turbulence as banks were bailed out, unemployment rose and there were widespread predictions of a long period of recession. As part of the recovery plan, the Bank of England´s decision to inject a huge amount of money into the banking system (quantitative easing) whilst dropping interest rates to 0.5% in 2009 in some respects was a gamble that … [Read More]

The 2017 Snap Election and Selling Your Property

May 9th, 2017

With the country currently going through election overload once again, it would be fair to assume that much of the British public have grown tired of visiting the polling booth. Bar the possibility of another Scottish referendum, many are now hoping that the Snap Election to be held on 8th June will be the last for some time. Observing the property market, the months that precede elections often come with an air of unpredictability. Sellers wonder if they could achieve a better price once an election is … [Read More]

How to Find Out The “Sold Value” of Your Property

April 26th, 2017

Upon receiving enquiries from property owners looking for a quick sale, one of the first questions we ask is the open market value. Most homeowners would usually respond by using local estate agent´s estimations, current / previous asking prices of neighbouring homes or other anecdotal sources of information. However, whilst such assessments are certainly helpful, we often find a different estimation comes back after doing some research. We always stress that there is no trickery going on here – with the market constantly evolving and … [Read More]

How to Fast-Track Your Property Sale

April 18th, 2017

Should you require an urgent sale of your property that is currently on the open market, getting the answer you need can be challenging – especially as many agents are known for sending out mixed messages. Conventional ways of selling a house normally require a little more patience as most buyers are inexperienced in the process. At the same time, many will also be typically be selling themselves, organising their own mortgages and making new arrangements for when they are finally able move (which can delay the whole process). Often unfairly labelled … [Read More]

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief Removal for Landlords (Part 4)

April 4th, 2017

In the last in this series of posts (see parts 1, 2 and 3), we continue to explore some of the options available to buy to let property owners looking to mitigate the effects of Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015. With this post being more technical in scope, please read our disclaimer* at the bottom and note we are not tax accountants / advisors. As with any tax-related information provided on this blog, we strongly suggest that landlords discuss any … [Read More]

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief Removal for Landlords (Part 3)

March 29th, 2017

Parts 1 and 2 of this series of blog posts outlined the impacts of Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015 for landlords and landladies across the UK, especially those who have high levels of mortgage debt and/or fall into the higher rate tax threshold. Should you be in a position where you are not quite sure what to do, it´s probably fair to say that many landlords are in the same boat. Whilst there is a great deal of information available … [Read More]

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief Removal for Landlords (Part 2)

March 23rd, 2017

As mentioned in part 1 of this series of blog posts exploring the implications of Section 24 of the 2015 Finance Act, it will be fundamental for landlords to understand their own specific circumstances when working out how this legislation will affect the amount of tax owed from April 2017. The magnitude of the impact will entirely depend on what particular tax band a landlord is operating in. In the simplistic example below, we assume that LANDLORD A and LANDLADY B own very similar properties as individuals – valued … [Read More]

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief Removal for Landlords (Part 1)

March 15th, 2017

In anticipation of the first phase of Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015, initiating from April 6th 2017, this month we will be publishing a series of posts aimed at navigating through this piece of legislation. Please note, however, that we are not accountants and strongly recommend that readers seek suitably qualified advice. With many landlords/ladies across the UK still unaware of the real implications of former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne´s so-called “revenue tax”, it is worth noting the following: The overarching … [Read More]

Selling Your Property Post-Brexit

March 7th, 2017

Some 8 months after Britain´s vote to leave the European Union, despite all the hysteria, there was actually very little impact on the overall housing market bar a temporary dip as much of the country digested the decision. In fact, as seen in the graph below, prices across the UK have have not seen any significant falls since the recession of 2007-08: These patterns can largely be attributed to historically low interest rates, a competitive mortgage market, an undersupply of good quality housing coming on to the market … [Read More]