The Clapham Property Blog

Well it's been another busy month in property investing. Everyone is getting ready to tackle 2017, and by now very well underway to taking action to achieve their goals. If you are looking to invest further in property using good old-fashioned buy to let, be wary though as there are a few things to take note of... Increased Taxes I've discussed it before but I'll mention is again - the dreaded Section 24 (of income) tax means that you will be paying the taxman FIRST and then deducting your rental income costs. Brief example: Old system: £30,000 Rental profits after repairs £20,000 Mortgage/loan interest ---------- £10,000 profit so tax bill based on 40% income tax = £4,000 New system: £30,000 Rental profits after repairs £30,000 Taxable income, 40% income tax = £12,000 £20,000 Mortgage/loan interest turns into a 20% credit = £4,000 So your tax bill is now £12,000-£4,000 =£8,000!!!! Point to note is that this will be phased in over the

I was talking to an investor the other day and they were looking to budget for a new purchase. We had discussed finishing touches, how to decorate, the spend on the build and then she popped the question. Maybe I should have expected it? “Should I let my property furnished or unfurnished, Jeroen?” It took me by surprise as she had brought me several properties to manage over the last year and I knew they were in good order. I had however inherited them from another agent she used to use and I must admit I didn’t check the details of every letting as yet. Turns out that they were unfurnished! She had let unfurnished all this time! I was bound to notice when the time came for renewal as I would have noticed the rents were a bit light though. Here’s the thing… If you are letting a property in Clapham and surrounds, I would say this easily applies to zones 2-4 in general, then furnish them. Furnish them well. If you are letting to DSS tenants then they will be used to

The new year is upon us. Now that the Christmas meal has digested and we are in full swing in our diets, gym sessions, yoga and other things that will take our mind off our immense indulgence it's wise to turn to our property portfolios to ensure successful letting in 2017. Here is what you need to know and do. Tax changes - mortgage/loan interest If you have not heard already, you will not be able to fully deduct mortgage interest as a cost from your rental income. Instead, for this year, you can deduct 75% of it. 25% of the cost will be added as a credit at the end. See my other post here for further details. Don't, however, go restructuring and panicking. Especially if you have an expensive property in London the cost of incorporating will likely outweigh any benefits for years to come. Take independent advice though, this will vary person to person, portfolio to portfolio. Repairs You will be pleased to know that repairs are still fully deductible. However the 10%

I was disappointed to see that the video I posted in my last update didn't work, so do  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO  of the deal in my last post, the hold and rent project in Camberwell.   On to the next update then. You'll remember that I had bought another property at auction. Again a lovely deal, this time purchased for £160,000. Again slightly further out than I normally venture (Thornton Heath). A property riddled with "problems" as some people refer to them as. I only see challenges, and moreover, an excellent way to pay less for an investment property. It had been on the market with two agents for over a year... what could possibly be wrong? Well, problems included  Japanese knotweed,  modernisation required and the block was looking tired. No problem too big of course, but one thing I did notice was that the property used to be a 1bed! The previous owner (who had been repossessed) had cheekily split the living room to create an extra bedroom. No

You may remember this post from a little while ago...   I had purchased two properties to refurbish last year, one to hold and let and the other to sell on to an end user (be it owner occupier or buy to let investor looking for an easy purchase). I had some of my avid readers ask me for an update, which I happily provided and I thought I'd post the updates here as well for you to see. I'll post more over the course of the next few days, but I thought I'd show you a little video to show the before and after for the three bedroom apartment which I planned on holding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0S7eAEaqCE&t=3s   This particular property was slightly out of my normal patch of Clapham, but as you know you sometimes need to trek a little bit further in order to get what you want. This particular project was a straightforward refurbishment of an otherwise solid apartment in Camberwell. The property had been neglected over the years so the programme of work