Our strategy depends on the refurb. We buy below market value, often at auction, add value through the works, then refinance on the new valuation. If the refurb goes over budget, overruns on time or doesn't lift the value, the whole deal suffers. This is the checklist we work through, from before we bid to the day the property is ready to let. Save it for your first project. STAGE 1: BEFORE YOU BUY ☐ Find the ceiling price. Check what the best comparable homes on the street h

DPG News Watch, 7 October 2026. HMRC has issued a six-month warning to landlords and sole traders: from 6 April 2027, anyone with qualifying income over £30,000 will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC estimates around 1,077,000 more people will be brought in. If you have a couple of rental properties, there is a good chance this includes you. £30k doesn't mean £30k profit. This is the part that catches people out. The threshold is based on qualifying income:

DPG News Watch, 7 October 2026. The latest Lloyds House Price Index shows UK house prices were unchanged in September. The headline sounds dull. The detail behind it is more useful for investors. The numbers. Prices were flat month-on-month (0.0%) and flat year-on-year (0.0%). Over the latest quarter they are 0.2% lower, and the average UK home now costs £298,441. The Lloyds index is the same long-running series previously known as the Halifax House Price Index; it was rename

DPG News Watch, 6 October 2026. New damp and mould rules came into force in Scotland today, and they apply to private landlords as well as social housing. If you let property in Scotland, or are thinking about investing there, this is worth understanding. What's changed. Known as Awaab's Law, the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 set fixed timescales for landlords to investigate reports of damp and mould, tell tenants what they found, and st

DPG News Watch, 6 October 2026. If you're holding off on a deal until mortgage rates come back down, one Bank of England policymaker has just given you something to think about. What happened. Speaking at a conference on 6 October, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann said that inflation running above the Bank's 2% target appears to have become embedded in the UK economy. She is particularly concerned that inflation could reach around 4% around the

Property finance uses a lot of shorthand, and the shorthand does a good deal of work in making the whole thing sound more complicated than it is. Three terms decide most buy-to-let decisions. Here they are without the mystique. Loan to value, or LTV, is simply what proportion of a property's value you have borrowed. Borrow £150,000 against a property worth £200,000 and your LTV is 75%. That is the whole concept. It matters because it sets two things at once: how much of your

Ask most people how a rental property is performing and they will quote you the yield. It is a useful number. It is not the one that decides whether a portfolio can actually grow. That number is capital left in — how much of your own money remains tied up in a property once it has been improved, revalued and refinanced. Here is why it matters. Imagine you have £60,000 to invest and two deals in front of you. Deal A needs £50,000 of your money and leaves all of it in the prope

Every property we look at goes through the same worksheet before we get anywhere near an offer. This is that worksheet, worked through end to end. One important caveat first: the property below is illustrative. It is not a deal we have completed, and nothing here is a claim about a track record. The figures are realistic for a UK terrace in need of modernisation, and the point is to show how the arithmetic is structured — not to present a result. The purchase — £185,000. A th

Investing in property can be a lucrative venture, but it often feels overwhelming for beginners. With the right knowledge and strategies, anyone can navigate the property market successfully. This guide aims to demystify property investment, providing you with the essential information to get started. What is Property Investment? Property investment involves purchasing real estate with the intention of generating income or capital appreciation. Investors can earn money throug

Refurbishing a property is more than just a cosmetic upgrade; it’s a strategic approach to enhancing value, functionality, and aesthetics. Whether you are a homeowner looking to revamp your living space or an investor aiming to increase the market value of a property, understanding effective refurbishment strategies is crucial. In this blog post, we will explore various refurbishment strategies, their benefits, and practical examples to help you make informed decisions. Under

Property investing comes with its own language. LTV, yield, equity, refinancing, bridging, cash flow — once you start looking at deals, the acronyms can pile up quickly. The good news is that most of the terminology is much simpler than it sounds. Here are some of the financial terms we think are genuinely useful to understand when analysing a UK property investment. Eye-level view of a modern residential property with a well-maintained garden Equity Equity is the portion of