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Hi, We are First Time Buyers looking to buy our first home. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of living above an Underground tube tunnel? We are looking at a property where there is noise and vibration from the Piccadilly Line underneath. Would this significantly reduce the property's resale value, and is it a quality of living issue? The only discussion I've found on this is this thread, but it is rather old so I'm wondering if improvements have been done to the Underground since then to improve this issue. Thank you, looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Hi all, I am looking for my first investment property in London with the goal of seeing a steady amount of capital growth and 3%ish yields over the next 3 years. I have decided to focus on houses given the supply and demand. I have a budget of £410k so I am limited to 2/3 bed terraced houses in areas such as Newham, Barking, Woolwich, Croydon and the likes. I currently live in Fulham, so as you can imagine, I am struggling to separate my emotions and let go of my opinions about these areas and see the potential given the amount of regenerative investment. Given the current rental market, these areas have become a little more questionable for me (some more than others) from a yield perspective. Rental prices per room/entire house have been significantly slashed so there is a high possibility that 3% will not be met. I also question how much the regen in some of these areas is will have an impact on the house price growth as the regen is targeted for “new apartment complex villages” which don’t necessarily uplift the area. Would you mind kindly sharing your opinions on 1. would you invest in London right now? 2. would you invest in flats closer to Central London right now or in the short term? 3. what you think of these areas from an investment perspective? 4. would you invest in these areas and why? 5. how you think terraced houses are fitting into regenerative plans which mostly consist of new apartment complexes? Thanksss for reading and thank you in advance for responding.

Hello everyone, complete newbie here. I live in London and only recently started considering getting into real estate investing. I'm 19, have zero experience in real estate and quite clueless right now. I've taken a look through Bigger Pockets too but I joined here as it's UK-centred. I have about £2k saved up and hoping I can save about £10k a year so that eventually I'll have enough money to get started. I'm interested in buying and refurbishing properties but as I said I'm clueless as of now, so we'll see where I end up once I learn more. See everyone around!

Hi all, Huge fan of the community. I'm approaching my first remortgage on my first property (residential). I'm looking to refinance after rennovating it over the past two years to get my first BTL. Exciting times. My original broker was not great, can someone recommend a broker to work with? A BTL specialist as I would like one broker to support me to build a portfolio. Sorry for the rookie question. There are just so many options online and everyone always says how important good brokers, just not where to find them! Many thanks

Hi, I found the podcast during lock-down and have been listening ever since - thanks Rob and Rob. The hardest thing is finding information or advice on networking with (local) like minded people so have decided to just jump in here. Actually just completing on our first house to live in. So now want to learn more about all the other potential options and venture further into the property world. I'm currently based in London both living (South East) and working (Central). Looking for networking recommendations and to network with people in London and Kent (originally from here) and build up contacts (property tax experts / local tradesman etc.). And, if the opportunities arise, happy to volunteer and help with projects to gain experience. Thanks, Ben

Hello Property Hub! Firstly I have to say I’m blown away with all of the content and knowledge sharing on here. I stumbled across Property Hub a couple of a weeks ago and my world and plans have completely changed. With that said I’m new to property and I’m looking to build a network in order to start investing over the next 6 months. I’m currently based on the south coast, channel island and London and I plan to invest up north. Liverpool - Manchester - Sheffield etc. but I’m very much an open book and not set on any particular location. My initial thoughts are BTL but again nothing set in stone! Ultimately I would like to make this my full time job and leave my current career. Really looking forward to connecting with anyone that is either in a similar position or could help me establish myself up north/has exciting ideas. I’m super motivated and excited to see where this journey takes me! As I reach any milestones/setback I plan on sharing my journey. Charlie

Hello there, My name is Juan, I own a property in SE London (Charlton). The property is an end of terrace (only 2 neighbors) where mine is the ground floor and I own the front garden, side return and half of the back garden. I just need to give access the upstairs neighbor to the bins and his section of the back garden. There's no service charge, the ground rent is only £50 a year and the lease for both flats is around 150 years. I was told that since the ground rent is so low and the lease is still 150 years I should approach the freehold company and offer them to buy the share of freehold. The first floor neighbor thinks it'd be great but he hasn't the funds to buy his share of the freehold. I'm thinking on buying the share of the freehold for the two flats so I can agree with him to pay me back the loan gradually and agreeing on the new lease to grant me permission to extend the property as I wish. Can you see people any benefit on buying it on terms of investment? What'd be the pros / cons for this? I know all the steps, like me having to set up a limited company for managing the new freehold, still needing the green light from the other neighbor for structural works on the property unless stated otherwise on the new lease, etc.. The transaction can be around £10k so I'm not sure whether it's worth or I'd be better asking just for consent to the freehold so I can perform the structural works I need for extending. I'm just trying to weight up if on the event of me asking again for consent (there's costs involved on this as well) I'll be ending spending the same and if the fact of owning the freehold would have any kind of benefit I may be missing investing wise. Many thanks, Juan

Good afternoon everyone, I am on my way to becoming fully compliant and want to source some properties for investors so I can build some capital in order for me to become an investor myself in the future. Are there any investors on here looking to invest in the North West area? I am based in Liverpool and have lived in and around Merseyside my whole life so i have a good understanding of the area. Please do get in touch and we can discuss things further. Kind Regards Mike

Reintroducing myself, I am Jo, an ambitious woman in the world of property. I am a trained designer and qualified project manager, hoping to form a joint venture with serious and interested parties for the Manchester region over the coming months. Short term goal is to raise enough equity to start tying down equity for long term growth and gain some financial freedom prior to venturing into other opportunities. I already own a BTL property in the Manchester area which has done pretty well over the last couple years, but I am ready to start tackling some larger, challenging and shorter term projects. I was given the opportunity to manage the flip of a Central London property a few months ago, converting a three bed maisonette into a two bed with an additional 'inner room' (pictures included). The idea was to convert the maisonette into a high-spec short term rental. We achieved this but due to the pandemic it's usage has been geared towards mid-term for the foreseeable future bringing in a rental income of 3.2k per month. The overall budget was set at 38k rounded down (excluding furniture/furnishings) and we originally anticipated 4-6 weeks for project completion, in all honesty it was closer to 9 weeks. 21k - labour 2k - bathroom fixtures/fittings/accessories 5.8k flooring/specialist paints/general materials 5k - kitchen units and appliances 500 - garden beautification project 1.7k - empty house expenses (council tax, energy, water) 2.3k - Building Control/HSE Actual Spend - 44.7k (6.4k over budget) 25.8k - labour 1.8k - bathroom fixtures/fittings/accessories 5.8k - flooring/specialist paints/general materials 4.6k - kitchen units and appliances 1.3k - garden beautification project 1.8k - empty house expenses 3.6k - Building Control/HSE The property itself was valued at 515k prior to the renovation and is now thought to come in at around 590-600k (pre-tax profit of approx 40k). Overspend beyond our control: Some may argue that an overspend of 6.4k is relatively good considering the finishing on the property, however despite taking all necessary building control measures (which were initially agreed) the local authority surveyor took issue with the fire suppression system we were hoping to install in the kitchen/diner as it became an open-plan space (please note we submitted the spec of the system with the initial BC application). The surveyor demanded we source a different suppression system, despite the one we initially proposed to use having all the necessary British Standard Certificates. A pretty heated argument ensued between the fire suppression supplier and the local authority inspector. In the end, the client opted for a much more expensive system which satisfied the surveyor adding a fair bit of labour, delay and expense. On rounding up the project and booking the final inspection for the renovation to be granted it's certificate of completion, we learned that inspector had been 'let go' and we were appointed a new inspector. Madness! Second overspend - the beautification of the garden, we anticipated it'd be a relatively small job with the shifting of some soil, weeding and planting of bulbs. The chap we hired to get it done is well known in the community working on gardening jobs for the local council in fact. He was appointed and begun the work...however mid-job he vanished into thin air! Just GONE! We gave it a week, still nothing, then....torrential rain and has he had begun the work on shifting soil, what happened next....MUDSLIDE! In the end, we had to rebuild the wall to reinforce all the soil it supports as it's a sloping garden and shift more soil prior to getting on with the small clear up. The rebuilding of the wall was something we had discussed as part of some follow up work next year...therefore it wasn't costed and the expense of this was brought forward. Gutted, but it looks really good now. Final overspend - totally within our control and will never make this mistake again Asbestos! (Dammit) in small trace amounts were found in the property (built in the late 1980s). We stopped work, sealed up and had an inspector come in and produce a report to confirm the suspicions. In the end, with consultation it was decided it was best to have it removed and the property PVA sealed throughout - adding on an additional 1k of work. Always worthwhile getting an renovation report done prior to having any work done. What happened with the short-term lets well? Well the property was to be managed by a specialist short-term letting agency who had predicted an income of 4k per month at 80% occupancy during the peak seasons and had managed to achieve approximately 3.8k pm during Jan/Feb on a short-term let, so the place was on course to do pretty well until COVID-19 happened. All the images you're about to see are genuinely my interior design skills. My hope is to work on flipping Manchester properties for resale as part of a joint venture (not to this high end finish, unless the opportunity really calls for it).

Hi All, Given the current climate, a property investment in my mind is increasingly compelling. Ideally looking for studio in London zone 1/2/3 around ~£300k. I'm 27 and hoping to get some input from you seasonned investors, regarding my financing options. I'm currently working hard and full-time building a tech company, from which I take a tiny monthly salary of £1,700 net. I own an apartment in London outright, value is approx £800k and I have £60k currently invested in stock/crypto which I could put into a deposit. The aforementioned property is a three bed, I rent the other two bedrooms for a total of ~20k per annum and live in the third. My question is; given my low, risky and irregular income would a bank realistically provide me with a mortgage? If so, how should I go about framing this application? Remortgaging, would be an option but not my first. If not, are there any other routes I should be exploring? I'm primarily looking for long-term appreciation rather than monthly income. Thank you in advance. PS; Would love to connect with property investors for knowledge exchange and coffee (at safe distance); I have deep expertise in software and digital assets PM me

Hi everyone, My name is Marian and I have lived in London all my life. I am currently a Property Deal Sourcer with my business partner Kirielle. I find property deals in London for property investors and I will be using the funds from this to be able to invest in properties myself. I know quite a bit about HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) which bring in great rental yield. I am happy to answer any HMO related questions

Hi Guys, I’m pretty new to property investment and started out in back in 2016. I live in London where I built up some equity in my home so used that to get my investment journey started. I’ve attended a few property training courses, numerous seminars and networking events picking up some knowledge that I would never have been able to research on my own where I’ve met some fantastic, lifelong friends along the way. I have one BTL up in the North and will be picking up another 2 this year. I am very motivated and goal orientated but I’ve (surprisingly) lost the passion for my dead end job, I’ve got as far as I’m ever going to get with it so I’m redirecting that drive and work ethic to secure my own future through property My goals in property are: Short Term: Buy my Proof of Concept BTL - Done Medium Term: Have enough income from property to cover my living expenses Long Term: To leave my full time JOB One of the key things I’ve learnt from my journey so far is that your mindset will be the difference between achieving average and great results I have been nurturing my credit score over the last few years and it’s now excellent. I’m exploring ways to get creative and use this to my advantage Looking forward to meeting you all Special K

Hi everybody! My husband and I are looking to get a BTL in Scotland (we have some contacts there). We're not homeowners and are wondering what's the best to do, buying through a joint personal mortgage or through a limited company. Our mortgage broker said that possibilities are very limited for us buying through a ltd, plus interest rate will be higher. Our idea is to build a small portfolio. Would it make sense to start with one property on a joint personal mortgage and see how things go? It looks that is more expensive to start with a limited company. I guess the problem would be that later we would have to sell this property to our limited company if we change mind in the future. Any advice from your side? Any recommendation for an accountant in London for a 1off consultation? What's a fair price for this kind of consultation? Thanks in advance to everybody! Teresa

Hi Property Hub My name is Suzannah. I provide property solutions and support by doing improvements to help maximise the value and potential of property. I have a PA background but it all started for me in property about 25 years ago when I was fortunate enough to inherit a low mortgage from my parents who were business owners and property investors in North London. I have always had in interest in property but never knew what to do with the accumulating equity of my property for many years. My second property was bought in 2013 in East London. After meeting my partner 2 years ago, we have recently set up a Renovations Company and are in the first year of business (is it possible to be nervous and excited at the same time?). My Partner/Director of the company is a Bricklayer/Supervisor and has been for over 30 years. He dreams bricks and has wide experience including extensions, conversions, house and block building and heritage. Together we complement each other really well. We would love to get involved in Flips, but the idea is to build up the business so we are able to do this. We would also like to get involved in HMOs and ultimately my partner would love to set up a training facility for Trainee Bricklayers (we are already setting the foundations for this – excuse the pun). So, we are getting there, have lots of ideas and love what we do, every day is part of the journey. This forum is fantastic, just joined and have already acquired some useful tips and info. Looking forward to learning more and being part of this great community! Let’s connect sometime..

9 months late and £590 million additional costs - How will the delay of Crossrail effect the London property market? Crossrail bosses have come under attack after it was announced the Elizabeth line will now open in autumn 2019 - 9 months later than originally planned. The service that will connect stations including Reading and Heathrow in the west all the way through to Abbey wood in the East. The delay has been put down to needing further testing and to improve railway software systems. Property owners and developers are facing another hit from an already stagnant market as price increases based on this phase of Crossrails completion being further delayed, meaning significant value to areas outside of London now not being added till the end of 2019 and early 2020. For more details head to these sites: https://www.standard.co.uk/business/property-bosses-angry-at-delay-for-crossrail-a3926431.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45367990

Hi everyone, I've just embarked on the magical world of property. I own a flat in East London that I bought to live in myself. A week from today I will be moving with my Swedish partner to Stockholm, and so I have begun the process of letting the property. I have been doing some research about this, but just at the beginning so am looking out for advice and practical tips that I can apply from a distance. Eadon

Hi Everyone, I'm currently investigating what are the possibilities to invest in property. I'm not owning any property yet, I have limited resources for the initial deposit and I'm based in London. I hesitate between two options for my first property investment: - Buying my own property outside of London with a quick commute (ie Chelmsford or Milton Keynes). The positive point is that I would only need a 5% deposit and I can use the first home buyer scheme. However, I'm concerned that the property I could buy won't increase in value and building in equity will only be based on my monthly repayment. - Investing in buy-to-let in the North (Liverpool or Manchester). The forecasts are planning a great increase in property value however I'm afraid that I will struggle to bring 20% deposit (I'm currently looking into getting a personal loan to not stretch too much of my finance, which is going to make it even more difficult). My investment goal is building wealth in the long term, I'm currently full-time employed and I'm not searching to get high profit from my investments for now (even though profit is still appreciated ) What are your recommendations? Please let me know your thoughts, Many thanks for whoever read this topic Anne-Claire

Dear Hubbers, I thought I might solicit your views on what seems to be an increasing trend. Namely, someone (often from London or the South-East) invests in BTL property in the North, which then means that money is effectively being transferred from the North - where it is arguably needed more - to the South. Of course, any modernisation undertaken in tired housing stock in the North (or anywhere else) can't be a bad thing. But the rental income is likely to be spent 200+ miles away and is not therefore helping the local economy. According to a comment on this thread there is anecdotal evidence that London investors operating in Liverpool are making it difficult for more locally-based investors to find a deal. Perhaps the fact that investors down South are helping to provide decent rental accommodation elsewhere in the country outweighs the fact that money is being transferred away from those investment areas. And of course it's likely that local tradesmen are getting work due to London investment money.

I'm living in London and have been told to find a new place and fast. As I'm struggling to find a suitable house/apartment to move into I need some help with this. Is things such as shared ownership a good idea? I have looked more and more into the idea and it seems to be something of interest. From talking to multiple people and housing people I have come across the idea of this shared ownership. One friend even recommended places to look such as this website https://propertybooking.co.uk as they do all of that stuff. I am someone to want things done easily, can not be fussed with lengthy and dragged out process' to find out I can't afford the high rent (especially in London). I just would like some help, and know not all of my money is wasted. As I am not the richest person in the world.

Hello there I am having difficulty in deciding what the best plan is to flip and would be grateful to get people's opinions on it. My objective To flip residential properties to build a capital-base rapidly. Background I am able to devote a large % of my time to building this portfolio and have access to cheap finance (up to £750k) and plan to do this through a company. I am geographically agnostic, although having spent the last 10 years in London I know it pretty well, especially south-west London. I am new to the property development game so realise I have a lot to learn and mistakes will be made I have strong financial modelling skills so will be OK with the numbers Questions What do people think about flipping in London in the current environment? Are there other (geographical) areas I should be considering? I am thinking of converting houses into flats in emerging areas in London with all the usual boxes ticked to deliver something for first time buyers - is this sensible? Any pointers, or recommendations of what NOT to do would be greatly received. Thank you!

Hey everyone, So we are Stephanie and Karen, we are new to property investing and have one investment property in South London through inheritance. So this is now the start of a big/exciting/scary journey! We have an interest in Kent particularly Swale and Medway as we know these areas, but also South London/ Croydon /Sutton as this is where we live and obviously have local knowledge. The property hub pods have been fab for me (Stephanie) as I listen on my commute to Canary Wharf and we are thinking of buying a property with Property Hub in the north and it would be great to hear from anyone else that has done this. I'm also an avid reader of all books property related and something of a budding fintech nerd for investments. Stephanie

Hi there, I own a property company in London with a mixture of residential & commercial property. I understand that Property companies are not exempt from inheritance tax for my kids. For 30 years I have owned the freehold and for a portion used the commercial sections of the properties for my own business. Now I'm looking to lease the commercial areas. We have 4 residential units and 2 commercial units. We also have a personal property which exceeds £1Million. I have a few questions that id be grateful for your help with. I'd like to continue to benefit from the income from the business without leaving the kids with a large IHT bill when I pass away. I believe, that my children will be exempt from the first £1M of inheritance tax I think by 2020. 1. Would my business be included in the IHT exemption or not? 2. Since the business hasn't always been used a property company, would it be treated as a property company or as a retail business as it has been for 75% of its tenure? As such, would a portion be deducted from the inheritance tax bill or is it treated all as a property company? 3. Are there any property investments that are exempt from IHT? 4. What business types are exempt from IHT? 5. I wondered if there another way to re-structure the business so my children may avoid being liable for IHT, perhaps joint ownership in the hope I survive 7 years? Hope the above makes sense and thanks in advance for your help' Rgds S

Hello everyone, Has anyone got any tips, opinions or comments on the best way to market and sell our small site? We’ve had some rough valuations and been told we can expect offers of over £350k. Any comments on any of these points would be appreciated! • Perhaps most importantly, auction? Or invite closed offers in a set (maybe 1 month?) timeframe? Which is likely to get us the best price for this sort of site in the current market? • If auction – any suggestions for the best firm, or any other tips? What sort of fees should we expect? • If closed offers – advertise it and deal with the sale ourselves or use an agent? We’ve had some direct contact from developers and we could advertise on websites, but is it worth paying for an agent to ensure we get the best price? • If using an agent how much should we expect to pay? I’ve contacted a few and the rates seem to vary widely! Some have suggested a flat fee but a percentage seems better as it gives them an incentive to get the best price. • In fact I’d prefer to offer a ‘staggered’ fee e.g. with a low percentage of the whole sale price, but a higher percentage of the amount achieved over (say) £350k. This would really incentivise the agent to get the best price possible. Has anyone done something similar before? • Should we expect to give the agent a set of keys and leave them to organise viewings etc, or should we be more involved? • Re: the sale process one agent’s recommended a small (£2k?) deposit and an exclusivity agreement with the chosen buyer in return for 28 days to exchange contracts, at which point the remainder of a 10% deposit would be payable with the rest of the money due in another 2 weeks. Does this all seem fine? • Obviously we’ll also need a solicitor to deal with the sale; again what sort of fees should we expect? Some background: We’ve now got Prior Approval under the Permitted Development regulations to convert the current 2 light commercial workshops into 4 small residential units. The site also includes a yard area. We could submit a planning application to knock the workshops down and make the best use of the whole site (using the PD scheme as a ‘fallback’ to negate any concerns the council may have re: change of use etc) but we’re not interested in developing the site ourselves and planning consultants have advised us that any buyer’s likely to want to develop their own plans anyway. We’ve no experience of development so we’re happy to get a slightly lower price and to leave the rest to someone else. The site’s in Catford, see my other 2 posts for a bit more information. Thanks! Lee

Hello all I hope you are all well. I have a dilemma and not a bad one I guess. I have a three bed flat in South London which I rent out. It makes a decent yield but not as good as my properties in Birmingham. My dilemma is, do I keep my south London flat and wait for the next boom or continue to rent out. Or sell now and buy two properties in Birmingham which will more than double my income compared to the south London one. The thing is, the London property will always rent well and have good captial growth but I feel Birimingham is also. Any advice on this would be fantastic and greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance. Lee

Hi, i'm a fairly experienced landlord of 38 years from London. I have been offering a house or apartment to rent for most of that time, usually my own while away working overseas. Currently, i have a one bed apartment in London, Docklands which i bought in 2014 and i've been renting that out for the past 2 years. I self manage remotely, which is easier for apartments it must be said, especially newer ones. I'm 60 years old and retired since renting the apartment in London. After finding a tenant i decided to travel some of the world taking in S. America, Mexico, Balkans, Turkey, Caucuses, Central Asia, Nepal, India and S.E. Asia, all financed from the single rental property.....and what a trip it's been!! :-) I'm more than willing to share my experiences with anyone who's interested and as far as the letting side goes, it wasn't rocket science! ;-) I have additional funds available and i'm interested in expanding and investing in the Midlands/North. Hopefully with other(s) investors who have experience with renovations and a view to then rent out or sell on. Thanks for listening... Robert