From:  whitely525@yahoo.co.uk
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate uk.finance uk.community.social-housing
Subject: Re: Dutch Tulips, Dot-coms and English Real Estate
Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:33:43 -0700
   posting-account=ps2QrAMAAAA6_jCuRt2JEIpn5Otqf_w0
Bytes: 3176

On 19 Aug, 18:12, M Holmes  wrote:
> In uk.finance whitely...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> >> >> Those folks who buy BtL flats and leave them empty really do
> >> >> puzzle me.  I don't expect they'll be around in six months though.
> >> > Why not..? It is a more tax efficient way to purchase a house this
> >> > way than 'buying to live in'.
> >> No it's not, no tenant equals no rent, equals no income to offset the
> >> mortgage against, equals no tax advantage.
> > Only if it is empty all the time.  No sane landlord does that.
>
> According to the comics 600,000 flats in Britain are left empty by their
> owners. They buy purely for the house price gains and don't want their
> shiny new properties sullied by actual tenants.

I doubt it, myself.  I know some rich landlords who have allowed their
flats in northern cities to be repossessed, apparently because they
can't be bothered to pay the service charge.  It's all too much effort
for a 70k investment.  But that is hardly common.  And now council tax
can be charged at higher rates on empty properties, there is greater
incentive to get a tenant.

The other thing is that an empty property is more at risk of
vandalism, certainly harder to insure.  The sensible thing is to keep
it empty until the right tenants are found; the 'right' tenant is
basically like a house-sitter that pays rent.







> FoFP
>
> --
> Party, like it's 1929!