Making Buy-to-Let More Profitable

A practical guide from the Accountants for Landlords

Are you a buy-to-let landlord?

If so, you’ll know from experience that the market has become much tougher.

Tax changes, higher borrowing costs and rising operating costs have eaten into profits. Finance can be more expensive and subject to stricter affordability tests. HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) may face additional licensing and management requirements, depending on the property and local authority.

Many of the changes have been introduced to help make property more affordable for homebuyers rather than landlords. As a result, many smaller landlords have sold up as they’ve seen their incomes drop. However, the effect varies considerably by location, borrowing level and property type.

There are still good opportunities for landlords!

Despite this, there can still be opportunities for buy-to-let landlords. There is strong demand for rental homes in many areas, although rents, yields and tenant affordability vary by location and property type.

But if you want to make a good profit from buy-to-let these days, you need to be savvier than before. You need to know how to make the best use of the reliefs and allowances available to you, understand which financial structures may be suitable for your portfolio, and know which borrowing options are available.

The Accountants for Landlords can help you

Because every portfolio is different, there are no one-size-fits-all strategies for keeping your buy-to-let income as healthy as possible. But with the right knowledge and advice from specialist landlord accountants, you can make better-informed decisions about tax, finance and profitability.

This guide covers a number of topics that every buy-to-let landlord needs to be familiar with. Some are simple, others are rather more complex. But all of them could benefit you – so if you’d like advice or help on any of them, please get in touch.