Introduction
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Buy-to-let has proved popular among Britons for many years, with proponents citing it as a good source of income over the long term.
For potential buy-to-let investors, there have been various options, such as purchasing traditional ‘vanilla’ properties in the form of two or three-bedroom houses or flats; or more complicated structures, such as houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) and student lets.
However the distinction between simple and complex buy-to-let investments has started to become more blurry, with various tax changes making traditionally simple cases more complicated.
Accidental landlords – those people who have inherited properties, for example – need help more than ever to negotiate the rental landscape, while those investors with a portfolio of diversified property types are finding it harder to navigate the various tax, legislative, process and systems changes of recent years.
Commentators cited in this special report talk of growing complexity at all levels, making it harder to define what is, and what is not, a ‘complex buy-to-let’ case.
Yet this also brings opportunities for mortgage advisers and brokers, whose expertise in this field has never been more important and desired.
This special report will look at the evolution of complex buy-to-let, explore how tax and legislative changes have affected the mortgage market, consider what solutions master brokers and advisers can create for complex buy-to-let clients, and ascertain how advisers can overcome the challenges facing their clients.
Contributors of information to this special report include: Jamie Smith-Thompson, managing director of Portafina; Jeremy Duncombe, director of the Legal & General Mortgage Club; Martin Reynolds, chief executive of SimplyBiz Mortgages; Harry Landy, managing director of Enterprise Finance; David Hollingworth, associate director, communications for London & Country Mortgages; Louisa Sedgwick, director of sales, mortgages, for Vida Homeloans; Charlotte Nelson, finance expert at Moneyfacts; Mortgages for Business; the Council of Mortgage Lenders; Shaun Church, director at Private Finance; Platinum Property Partners.
