This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
An increasing number of overseas landlords are now investing in the UK rental property market.
Foreign landlord numbers now exceed two million, according to chartered accountants UHY Hacker Young.
Increase in Foreign Landlord Investors
The number of overseas landlords renting out property in the UK has increased so much that there has been a 6% rise in the last 12 months, from 1.93 million in the previous 12 months to 2.04 million. In the past five years, the number of foreign landlords has increased by 39%, up from 1.46 million in 2006-07.
Despite this, UHY Hacker Young have said that their analysis has uncovered that this steady growth might end after the Government recently announced their plans to charge Capital Gains Tax on the sale of properties owned by foreign investors.
This means that the gain made from selling their properties will be taxed on foreign investors, from April 2015.
Head of Private Client Services, Mark Giddens, said: “The UK economy is one of the world’s most liquid, and UK property is seen globally as a safe haven from the effects of a financial crash or from national government’s interference in the assets of private individuals. That has driven fierce demand for prime property in London and the South East in particular.
“But foreign investment in UK property is not just about the purchase of trophy homes. Increasingly, overseas investors are targeting buy-to-let properties, and in particular their investment in new build properties is funding a much needed boost to the supply of quality homes in the rental market.”1
1 http://old.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Sharp-rise-in-foreign-landlord-investors
