Under starter’s orders

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My father used to say that buying a house was like the Grand National in terms of how many fences one had to jump to reach the finish line.  It appears that we only have three in our personal Grand National, but they’re all pretty much Becher’s Brook-sized.

Those of you going, ‘Eh?  What?  Buying a house??’ haven’t missed anything – this time last week we weren’t even considering buying a house, but then an opportunity came up that we knew we would absolutely kick ourselves for missing out on if we didn’t try and take it, and so after a telephone call with my mortgage broker this morning to clarify some points on both sides, we are going for it.

More details of the house once it’s sewn up, but our three fences are:

  1. Can we raise £127,000 on a buy-to-let mortgage?
  2. Can we get a market rental valuation of £650 a month?
  3. Can we borrow back the mortgage reserve on our current mortgage?

I spoke to our lenders this morning as well, and the answer to 3 seems to be a cautious yes.  They’re closed to new business, so need to double-check with the higher-ups that it can be released and also the full amount will need to be within the original lending criteria in terms of LTV, although we should be okay on the latter point – we’re currently under 60% LTV.

So watch this space and please cross your fingers!

Going back to my father – he would have been 84 yesterday, so he was on my mind, and with the Grand National being run last Saturday, I was thinking about a letter he wrote me when I was at university and he and Mum had put in an offer on a beautiful Grade II-listed house in Somerset, with the plan of my grandmother going to live with them there as well.  It only took me a few minutes to find it, despite the current state of my office (it still has an entire Howdens kitchen crammed into it!), and I realised from the date that it was the last letter he ever wrote to me before he died – he was in a serious car accident seven days later.  So in a post about my Grand National fences, here are Dad’s, from 23 years ago, together with the fountain pen he used to write them which I still use every day.

3% levy on second homes

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Well, I was feeling slightly smug for a few weeks about Scotland not being affected by the 3% surcharge for buying a second home that was announced in the Autumn Statement, but despite the SNP’s avowed loathing of Westminster, they’ve not hesitated in going, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea,’ and doing exactly the same for LBTT (Land and Building Transactions Tax, our version of stamp duty).

Scottish Budget: New 3% levy for buying second homes

I’m really not sure what the recent flurry of legislation affecting landlords is supposed to do, other than reduce the amount of rental stock, thus pushing rents up.  Anyway, if my purchase looks like it’s going to get anywhere close to not completing by the date this comes in (unlikely, but then I thought I’d be six weeks into renovations by now!), I shall be strongly suggesting that the seller pays it.

Tax changes for residential landlords

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My lovely accountants, the Long Partnership, have started their own YouTube channel and this week’s soundbite is about the tax changes for residential landlords.  Much food for thought and well worth two and a half minutes of your time.  I’m wondering if I should stick to holiday cottages rather than going into buy-to-let, as they’re not affected by the changes and there’s a wonderful local cleaning company who can do the changeovers for me.