Is Investing In Buy-To-Let Worth It?
Published: 16/07/2018
It’s two things Brits seem extra excitable about lately - the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the booming buy-to-let (BTL) industry. Both are profitable business. Both have clear winners and losers!
Let us explain our theory…
More people than ever are deciding to invest in property and become landlords. The rental property market is booming, as demand grows and grows with many members of the younger generations wishing not to ‘settle down’ and to live a more easily changeable lifestyle renting in inner-city apartments and share-houses (while roaming the world monthly and buying new shoes weekly, no doubt!). Jokes aside, choosing to rent is not always a lifestyle choice, with younger people often unable to afford property for themselves, without the help of the Bank of Mum and Dad (Read our article about how to help your children jump onto the housing ladder) or some really hardcore saving strategies (Read our article about how to save money). This is a serious problem, that does need to be addressed by our Government.
Nonetheless, whatever the reasons behind it (some good, some bad), there is no doubt that buy-to-let is big.
Wimbledon is a great case study when looking at the buy-to-let market, especially in the Capital. Why? Because it’s a desirable location for all types of renters - families, young professionals, students - and as such, it’s also a very profitable area for landlords, and an increasingly expensive one for tenants. Wimbledon has great schools, plenty of green space, a buzzing social life, good transport links into the inner city and towards Surrey and all the local amenities one could need to go about their everyday life. Indeed, you could easily live in Wimbledon and rarely leave it! (Read our article on top properties to buy in Wimbledon).
A local Wimbledon buy-to-let success story comes in the form of 63-year-old Chelsea resident Joanna Donniger. As a young women in the ‘80s, Joanna came up with the idea for Tennis London, a short-term letting agent for tennis players fed up with the lack of accomodation in Wimbledon and the long commutes they often had to take to get to the court. She began offering housing - ranging from modest homes to luxury houses complete with jacuzzi baths - to athletes competing in the tournament. Today, she houses all the world’s top seeds and their teams in 150 different homes across Wimbledon (homeowners rent their places to the tennis players visa Joanna’s agency). The business’s annual turnover is £600,000, so you can only imagine how much profit is made, given the agency runs with just a handful of employees out of a small studio office.
The Tennis London success story is one (extreme) example of how profitable buy-to-let is in areas of London like Wimbledon - where tennis meets family life, business life and just about everything else.
It also goes to show how beneficial it can be for property investors to bite the bullet and invest sooner rather than later - something you can afford now (e.g. an apartment in a growing area of London such as Croydon, for example), probably won’t be so attainable in as short as one year’s time (when prices no doubt skyrocket - they do every year after all!). We bet Joanna is glad she decided to invest in Wimbledon back in the ‘80s!
Who exactly should landlords - whether new investors purchasing a property for the first time or seasoned professionals - look to for this much-needed advice?
There are a number of advantages of choosing an experienced property solicitors' firm such as GWlegal. We have:
- Almost 35 years’ experience in the field
- Five stars reviews on Solicitor.Info
- A number of property awards under our belt. Two years running, we have won ‘Best Landlord Legal Services Provider’ at the Property Wire Awards, as well as many others
- National experience, but a local ‘family’ approach to doing business. There’s a reason they call us a ‘National Firm with Local Values’!
Who are GWlegal?
GWlegal are a property solicitors based in Liverpool, specialising in buying or selling, remortgage, declaration of trust, bridging and buy-to-let landlords.If you have a legal matter you wish to discuss don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 0345 373 3737 email us hello@gw.legal with your question.
Who are GWlegal? We’re a national firm with local values.