ExpatBriefing: UK Buy-To-Let Property Investment Loses Its Allure

By Fiona Moore, for ExpatBriefing.com 26 September, 2017

Maintaining property in the UK to rent it out is a less attractive prospect now, following the April 2016 introduction of a three percent stamp duty land tax surcharge on those acquiring second homes.

WorldFirst, an international payment services provider, prepares an index that compares the return investors can receive from purchasing property in the 28 EU member states and Turkey to rent (so-called buy-to-let property investment).

The UK, which had been towards the top of the table, has fallen 10 places in the latest index to 25th. Those investing in buy-to-let property can now expect an average four percent return on their investment. Ireland continues to offer the best return, of 7.08 percent.

The other countries in the top-5 are Malta, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Slovakia, which all have average yields of over six percent.

"While the UK remains in a purgatory-like state between EU membership and Brexit, long-term investment decisions have become increasingly difficult to make and falling returns for property investors could mark the beginning of the end for one of the UK's most successful investment avenues of the past 25 years," said Edward Hardy, Economist at WorldFirst.

Only Austria, France, Croatia, and Sweden fare worse than the UK, with average yields all under four percent.

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