We look back over the past 12 months and see which PPP stories peaked your interest. From finding out that a striking number of landlords have no plan for their buy-to-let investment to our Founder, Steve Bolton’s personal story, here’s a breakdown and summary of the best read stories.
Unsurprisingly, our most popular stories in 2014 were property investment related!
1. Betting the House: The UK’s Trillion Pound Buy-to-Let Gamble
In May, we released a research report that uncovered how 93% of private landlords have no five year plan for their buy-to-let investment, despite 50% of them wanting to secure their retirement income through such properties.
2. Houses of multiple occupation – it’s not all rogue landlords and substandard accommodation
It’s unfortunate that the terms ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation’ or ‘HMOs’ are often associated with low quality accommodation and greedy landlords. TV coverage such as one particular episode of the BBC’s ‘The One Show’ only highlighted the shocking state of some HMO properties. However, for every bad HMO landlord, there is an abundance of good ones as highlighted by our own tenants.
3. An entrepreneur’s tale of two decades
In his three-part blog, PPP Founder and Chairman Steve Bolton shared his journey from almost losing everything to starting what is now the fastest growing premium franchise in the UK.
4. Do rabbit hutch studio flats and HMOs meet a crucial demand for affordable rented accommodation?
An article in the Guardian showed how several landlords are cashing in on soaring tenant demand in the capital by renting out tiny rooms for extortionate prices. However, our Founder and Chairman Steve Bolton questions whether such rooms are meeting a demand or whether all landlords should stick to minimum standards.
5. You don’t need oodles of cash savings to finance your buy-to-let property investment
PPP Partner Tony Bennett explains how the equity in someone’s home can provide the single biggest opportunity for many people to raise the finances to start investing in buy-to-let property.
6. The risks of investing in buy-to-let property and how to mitigate against them
As with any investment, there are several risks that all would-be landlords should take care to prepare for when investing in buy-to-let property. Steve Bolton highlights just some of them and how investors could mitigate them.
7. Partner Diary: My First Month
It’s always nice to hear from our Partners about their experiences with PPP. In his second diary instalment, newly joined Liam Gallagher told how he was finding pre-mentoring preparation and researching properties to view.
8. Buy-to-let investors expect £20,000 annual income from their portfolio in retirement
Further research showed that buy-to-let investors expect income from their rental properties to boost their annual retirement income by almost £20,000 and that on average, private landlords plan on retiring at the age of 60.
9. Planning for your buy-to-let investment - getting started
As our research in May showed, very few landlords have a plan or strategy for their buy-to-let investment. In this blog, Steve Bolton gives his top tips for putting the right plan together.
10. What is an HMO?
It’s all well and good to talk about Houses in Multiple Occupation as a buy-to-let investment model that offers great returns, but what actually are they? Some landlords are not familiar with the term and most tenants don’t even know they are living in one.
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