Sarah says: ‘Buy-to-let has been seriously flawed since its introduction. The returns have been so poor for so long: people think five per cent is an exciting return and it’s just not. You want to make sure you’re getting a 10 per cent return on your investment at least.’
‘Plus there’s lots of competition out there. You need to be able to afford to ride all the rental market ups and downs and have the money to plug the gaps when the property isn’t let.’
‘As a general rule, you either have a buoyant letting market or a buoyant housing market; you don’t get both together.’
Sarah says: ‘HIPs are compulsory for sellers in England and Wales and Home Reports were introduced in Scotland on 1 December 2008. HIPs are a disaster for England and Wales, so I can’t see them helping much in Scotland, either. There’s lots of form filling and not enough benefits.’
‘To me, it’s just one extra hoop you have to go through before you sell your home at a time when you really don’t need any more expense.’
Sarah says: ‘It’s not going to benefit many people. The Government is desperate to find a solution to the property slump, but it’s just fire-fighting with tiny desperate gestures.’
‘And the £1,750 saving is a relatively small amount of money when you’ve still got to pay for furniture and legal fees.’
Sarah says: ‘It’s going to cost billions of pounds to sort out. It’s just too expensive logistically and will cost companies even more money to adjust prices and revert back again in future. Again it’s another tiny desperate PR gesture from the government.’
‘Plus I’m totally confused about whether I have to back-date VAT for my business or does it start from the beginning of December? One thing I do know is my accounting package doesn’t recognise any figure other than 17.5 per cent for VAT and I’ve no idea how to adjust it!’
‘I’ve also heard the government plans to clamp down hard on benefits. To me this just doesn’t make sense if more people are being made redundant and so more will have to rely on benefits’ help. To me, it’s basic economics.’
Sarah says: ‘It’s not going to bounce back up. We’re in for the long haul now. All the time we’re comparing the situation we’re in now with the “better days” way back when.
‘The thing is, the situation now IS normal and how it should be. To think that getting back to “normal” means allowing people to run up £20k debts on credit cards and have 125 per cent mortgages just isn’t right – or normal.’
Sarah says: ‘For years, people have made money out of property on the back of a rising property market regardless of whether their business plan was good or bad.’
‘Now people have to have a great business plan to take on the market. But there are still people with potty plans on the show. It’s a colourful series!’
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