Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

Why not a rental property near where you live? So you can actually keep your eye on the place...

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

So you're betting on the pound getting stronger against the dollar long term. Risky.

A good house in the US is likely appreciating better than most of the UK where house prices haven't been going up all too much. Again very subjective though.

If you choose to return then you can just sell whatever property you had in the US and buy in the UK. In the short term you could air b&b.

I dunno, it's your money and life, just seems too risky for some potentially hypothetical justifications for me.

That and all the headache of landlording long distance and dealing with all the intracountry tax headaches.

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

We did explore this option but have found it impossible to get a mortgage in the UK for a UK buy to let. Of course if you are a cash buyer it may be a different story.

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

We bought 2 rental properties while in the UK, as we were planning to stay permanently. We're now back living in Australia but have kept the rental properties. We have a good managing agent, although I do need to keep an eye on their maintenance department to make sure they do any needed maintenance quickly.

We engaged a UK tax company that focuses on tax issues for landlords, they helped with our 2017/2018 UK tax self assessment and no problems to date. Next year will be a bit trickier, as we'll be non resident landlords. We've organised for the managing agent to deduct tax before putting the rent payments into our account. Australia and the UK have a dual taxation treaty, so we won't be paying tax on our rental income twice.

It's not ideal to be long distance landlords and brings its own hassles. We're lucky in that we have family in the same area as our rentals, so if we have any concerns they can help.

I think you'll find it very difficult to get a buy to let mortgage without being resident in the UK, but you could inquire with a couple of mortgage brokers and see what they say.

If you do decide to do this, I'd recommend educating yourself on the legal responsibilities that come with being a landlord. Even if you have a managing agent, you're still responsible for ensuring that your tenants live in a safe property that's free from any health risks. That means making sure that boilers are serviced regularly, an annual gas safety certificate is done, the electrics are in good working order and fit for purpose, and that the house is well maintained and free from damp. There are a lot of cowboys in the industry and the government is quite rightly cracking down on the bastards!

You'll also need to get your head around the legal process for dealing with rent arrears, deposits and disputes. Joining one of the two large UK landlord associations is a good start. Best of luck.

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

I've never had a rental property, never even lived in one until the last few months, but I have worked at a student Halls of Residence and I would avoid student lets like the plague. I'm sure some of them are lovely people but it's their first time living alone away from their parents and a lot of them really didn't seem ready to be 'adults'.
Common problems were, fires in kitchens, usually someone coming back drunk, deciding to cook something and then falling asleep.
Blocked toilets due to trying to flush things that were never meant to go down toilets.
Soiled mattresses, it's amazing how many people wet the bed when they have had too much to drink.
Blocked sinks, flooding of kitchens and bathrooms
Carpets/lino burnt with irons/cigarettes (legal or otherwise)
Cooker tops/ovens with food or grease burnt on so badly that they had to be replaced.
Fridges/freezers with mouldy food
Holes punched in doors/walls
Locks smashed open
Smoke alarms torn from ceilings
The list goes on and on, and these were flats within warden controlled blocks with an onsite maintenance team and cleaners going in once a week. I dread to think how bad it could get with no supervision.
The end of year clean up was horrendous, I won't go into things I've found in bags under beds and in wardrobes and there were always quite a few who didn't pay their rent too.
You also have more responsibilities as a landlord of a HMO
From my recent experience as a renter with a landlord living abroad it seems HMRC have started requesting tax be deducted before rent is paid to landlords by either tenants or letting agents if it's more than £100 a week and you have to apply for permission to use the Self assessment method.
If you did go down the Self assessment route through HMRC it is simple enough I used to do it for the Directors at work, so the UK tax you could probably do yourself.
You would have to declare the income in the US as well and be taxed on it.
Buy to let mortgages are now increasingly harder to get even if you are UK based and may require a much bigger deposit we looked a while ago and were told anything from 20 to 40% for residents of the UK.
Between damages and 2 lots of tax you might find there's no profit in it and it might even cost you more than it's worth.
I can understand your reasoning though as we sold a house in the UK for £40k in 2001 to live abroad and 6yrs later when we returned that same house was worth £120k, with hindsight we wished we'd let our house then. The huge price jumps are now a thing of the past though thanks to more responsible lending.

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?
 

I have considered this a few times in the last few years. Right now I am in a place where I think it is cheaper for me to buy when I intend to move as the US housing market where I am outpaces the UK market where I am looking. I did get very close last year though. Here are my observations.

It is possible to get a mortgage, cash buyer is easier. Most of the high street banks baulk at non UK residents. It's all a game of % to value of the house. ironically, it's easier to buy a more expensive house than a cheaper one. There are a few private mortgage brokers (you can google them I am not going to advertise their wares) for which on average you will pay about 2000 pounds when all is said and done for the privilege of a mortgage that usually will have different terms and conditions than your every day domestic UK mortgage, the most noticeable being the percentage rate will be higher.

Ultimately its a headache once you buy you have all the tithes of taxes etc to monitor including the property management etc. i used property managers many times in the UK and US and at the end of the day they are really just message takers and your left to resolve with $$ the issues.

Thus for me unless its a burning desire to own I find it cheaper and more convenient to take short to medium term rentals in the area I go to. I'd rather pay 500 pounds for a week in a nice home/ cottage than all the costs and tie up of capital required to own. Buts each to there own.

Re: Has anyone bought an investment property in U.K.?