Tooting Property UK & Summer Update

Friends,

September is here! and we’re noticing a marked uptick in activity from you, our clients! Things are most certainly hotting up in activity, I hope you all had a fantastic summer break.

Just today we’ve reviewed 3 progressing projects: 

– 2 X House into HMO conversion deals

– Buy to let Renovation in Scotland

Bungalow flip in the South East! 

Looking ahead into the winter? 

We have a new PM, we have utility bill competitions on morning TV programmes, and we are just approaching the cooler months. 

What would I do if I were PM?

There has to be a clear addressing of those at the lower bound, we all agree with assisting the lower bound but part of the differential lies in where the lower bound ends, and the middle bound begins. The line has to be drawn somewhere after all. 

The challenge we have is a 30 month election cycle remaining and a weighing machine of voting, far easier to distribute £600.00 energy support to all, than justify restricting support to the bottom 15% of earners, and pensioners on fixed incomes. 

We wait with bated breath to see where the autumn budget lands, looking forward to hearing from the new PM on a number of issues including apparent reform of planning policy, hasn’t the revision of which been floated at length before?

To directly address the cost of living crunch I read about increasing the minimum tax allowance to 25K (a £2,500.00 annual saving) and to fund this would reduce the minimum tax allowance of those earning 100K from circa £12K to £nil, this would be a trade of £2,500 from those earning 6 figures to those who are the average earner, this can be effected through PAYE pay slips and thus has immediate impact. A fantastic policy idea (I reiterate, not my own). 

What about the Landlord?

Whilst policy shapes the economy I’m also keenly attuned to the economy of oneself being the operative differentiator in our lives, so what can we do about things?

Well the efficiency bandwagon has been banded around with more and more rigour in recent years and good practice would have been to spend a little extra on renovations to ensure we future proof our investments, but what if we haven’t thus far

We Should Start.

Going forward we are focusing on draught reduction and energy efficiency in our buy to lets, can be increasingly difficult within a 1900’s backstreet 2 up 2 down in the north east than it is an off-the-shelf new build flat, but they remain in circulation so we cannot discount these properties. The payer will be the buyer, or the seller, of the properties. One of which will be footing the bill for modernising and upgrading of efficiencies.

To blanket insist on a solar panel across every roof might be good policy in sunny Spain, but the north of England takes 10 days sunshine per calendar year, so possibly not the most thought out of strategies. Little things can make a big difference, things like insulated plasterboard on external walls can make a marked improvement on the efficient of a property, thorough insulation of lofts & eaves also another inexpensive upgrade that many are omitting, on top of the obvious repair the cracked and gaping walls!

DJF Energy Efficiency Discount: 

Want to hear more about our EPC discount? Email us to find out more

Kindest, 

Dan & the Team