We’ve just touched down on the familiar damp of British soil again after returning from our company trip to Dubai. It’s been a week filled with site viewings, spectacular sunsets and conversations with some world-class developers – We really hope that in the coming weeks you’ll be as blown away by these exciting new projects as we were!
Now, let’s take a look at all the headlines that caught our attention this week. I always try to summarise the links to save you having to click through.
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Property news this week
- Renewed Interest from China in UK Property Market – The Chief Executive of Chinese Planning and Marketing Consultancy has stated that the UK property market is experiencing renewed interest from China after restrictions designed to cool their own market have resulted in a slowing down of capital growth. It has been essential for Chinese municipalities to put a damper on property investment since many areas have seen drastic increases of over 50% in house prices in less than 5 years. The response to the enforced slow down of their own market is that more Chinese investment focus has migrated overseas to UK property offering them better returns.
- 25th Anniversary of the BTL Mortgage – 24th September 2021 marks the official 25th anniversary of the buy-to-let mortgage for landlords in the UK. First offered in 1996 by only a small selection of lenders, the inception of the BTL mortgage made groundbreaking advancements in helping investors match the growing tenant demand and fill the shortage of homes at a time of recession in the UK housing market. In the past 20 years, the buy-to-let market has made massive leaps, with the Private Rental Sector nearly doubling in size.
- More Expat British Landlords Admit Tax Evasion – In a shocking revelation shared with City A.M, 248 overseas investors who own BTL UK property confessed to the HMRC that they had consciously evaded tax. This data has been shared by the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young. The firm discovered that the majority of those culpable were UK ex-pats living abroad as opposed to foreign investors. In a campaign called ‘Let Property’ the HMRC sent warning letters to those investors it believed to have underpaid their taxes, offering them 90 days to register the correct amount owed or face a full investigation.
- Bank of England Holds Back on Interest Rate Changes – The Bank of England committee is fully aware that the economy cannot carry on using “cheap money” or risk future inflation rising to an uncontrollable level with no money for emergencies. That being said, a rise in interest rate at this time could spell disaster for many borrowers. UK consumers have already seen retail prices inflate and are now being told energy prices are set to soar. The current supply crisis is also putting further strain on the economy. However, an increased interest rate at this point could cause many borrowers to spiral into further debt. Already consumers have been faced with rising prices in the shops, but now energy prices are also being hiked and rental prices are increasing across the UK. Considering all these factors, it is likely that most committee members will leave making a firm decision on BoE interest rates until well into next year.
That is all we have for you this week. If you have any comments or questions on this week’s news summary then please feel free to send us an email at [email protected] – if not, see you next week.
