Landlords benefit from rising value of UK property

Landlords are getting the best deal from the market growth UK property has experienced over the last decade. The value of homes in the UK has jumped up 34% to £7.14 trillion over the last ten years, with landlords more than doubling their original investment. Skipton International (Skipton) have been offering mortgages for British expats since 2014. Most of who believe UK buy-to-let is a solid investment choice, providing a stable income and capital appreciation.

Figures from Savills estate agents show that there has been six consecutive years of growth in the value of UK homes following a flat period after the financial crisis in 2008. The UK property market began to flourish after 2013 and has continued despite restrictions on tax relief for landlords and increased stamp duty. 20% of this growth can be attributed to new property development with 80% deriving from rising house prices. The value of landlords’ equity has grown from £600 billion in 2007 to £1.3 trillion in 2017.

The areas gaining the most value continue to be London boroughs including Westminster, Wandsworth, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with London accounting for 90% of the UK’s total value growth. The South East of England has demonstrated strong growth over this period with the rise in value of homes in this region outperforming London during 2017.

Nigel Pascoe, Director of Lending, Skipton International, said: “These figures will only encourage more people to look towards investment in UK property for long term growth. We have seen a healthy appetite for UK buy-to-let mortgages since we launched them in 2014 and envisage this to continue into 2018. With the value of the pound dropping following the Brexit decision, our customers consider it a great time for British expatriates to invest in UK property.”

Skipton offers a range of buy-to-let mortgages and remortgages in England and Wales for British expatriates and Channel Island customers. The Guernsey regulated bank launched the UK mortgages three years ago, in response to the difficulties many British expats faced securing loans on investment property. Since then, Skipton have provided over 1,000 mortgages on UK buy-to-let properties to British expats.