Talk:Buy to let

Latest comment: 3 months ago by Tomintoul in topic Tax Treatment

Thanks edit

Thanks for beefing up my article guys.  :) - TomRobinson 09:56, 7 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Completed Merge edit

Completed merege of buy-to-let by copying page to section Experienced investors and amateurs.

As you can see the whole of the merged article was on this sub-topic and clearly the buy to let article is more comprehensive.

I chose the unhypenated title as I feel more people are likely to try to search this was. Also its probably the preferred way in the style guide?

I hope everyone approves. simonthebold 20:28, 14 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

  • No, it is hyphenated throughout the article, and that is the way it is defined in the OED, and on Wiktionary. Jeff Knaggs 07:32, 7 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
    • It's hyphenated if it's an adjective, and not hyphenated if it's a verb or noun. That's how English works. "I used a buy-to-let mortgage to buy a property to let out" Jgharston (talk) 10:52, 10 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Amateur investor edit

I felt the section on amateur investors did not represent the reality of the UK sector. Also, the word amateur should not be used simply in the derisory. A great number of amateurs are very successful in the sector. Budup 11:21, 19 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Landlord Mortgages edit

After repeated spamming and removal of a link to the Landlord Mortgages website the perpetrator added this comment to their link and an entry to the standard anti-spam comment:

Landlord Mortgages - The organisation is much respected by the UK National press and comments regularly on Buy To Let. The company carries out regular statistical reports ie. rental trends. 11:17, 19 July 2006 86.131.94.97
Wikipedia is not a collection of external links, nor is it a place to advertise your business. "If this is correct then why have links in the first place. Are you saying you favour some links over others? Landlord Mortgages is very influential in the market place and has as much press coverage on the subject as ARLA or CML...carry out your own search. I have duly amended your article to reflect current trends, your information was incorrectly stated, as such we are influential and warrant a listing." 11:17, 19 July 2006 86.131.94.97

I have removed the link and comment; let me explain why. The link takes you to a commercial website for a mortgage broker who specialises in this market. The website offers no encyclopedic information, only an option to purchase an investment guide . The purpose of external links is to give access to further information and links to relevant independent organisations. The exception to this are large well-know commercial companies which have their own pages.

The comnment makes reference to my (your) article. The article is not owned by any one person but is a collective effort. Any worthwhile contributions are welcolmed. However you should realise any non-neutral point of view changes will be reversed by other editors.

Please try and join in with the spririt of the project instead of pursuing self-interest.simonthebold 15:29, 19 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

Please sign your comments with four tildes (~).

Talk about spamming : simon you are a financial adviser with your own links on this page. If you set standards apply them yourself...jealousy gets you know where 06:58, 20 July 2006 81.153.74.6
So you say its better for someone when looking at mortgages relating to buy to let that they are linked through to ARLA who do not offer such mortgags. We are the most respected buy to let mortgage provider. If you are saying that our service does not add value to your readers then that contradicts UK National Press. If you are to set standards set them accross the whole site..ARLA is a commercial organistation. This page is incorrectly written but you obviously dont value my companies input. 09:32, 20 July 2006 86.131.94.97
Yes Lee, I am a financial adviser. There are no (note spelling) links to my business on my user-page. Anyone who is interested in BTL can type in a search in Google or a hundred other search engines to find people, like you, trying to flog their services. THIS IS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA. That means it's not a place to sell your products. If you feel something on this page is incorrect then please edit it. But be aware your edits will be copy edited by other people with a WP:NPOV who will remove any bias or commercial links.
ARLA offers advice to landlords and tennants on their website. What does your website offer apart from the opportunity for you to make money? simonthebold 19:52, 20 July 2006 (UTC)Reply
I do not have a problem not having my website on the page. The only reason I put it on the site was the fact arla is commercial. If you truly wanted to put a non commercial link then put it to a news website. 11:37, 24 July 2006 86.131.99.78
ARLA is contextually relevant and offers non-commercial content, your website is purely a way for you to make more money. simonthebold 11:26, 24 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

And please sign your comments with four tildes (~).

What a joke edit

Currently i'm looking at this for starters:

They have been attracted by rental incomes, rising capital values and a perception that the risk in housing is lower than for equity based investment. More recently, investors have seen buy-to-let as an alternative to their pensions, especially in light of the negative publicity pensions have received.

Although the stories of failures are most likely to reach the newspapers, the majority of small private landlords are savvy investors who use buy to let as a way to supplement their income or even provide for their retirement. However, the sector is still dominated by professionals.

All subjective rubbish. I haven't got the link to hand but a survey even by a vested interest organisation found that 29% of BTL operates at break even or a loss. I'm speechless. I'm tempted to just delete it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lincs geezer (talkcontribs) 03:14, 11 February 2007 (UTC).Reply

"Effect on Society" Section edit

I find it faintly amusing that this section has been flagged for review, since, while it is obviously flawed in tone and style, it's probably the most salient passage in the entire article! Gunstar hero (talk) 17:26, 22 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

This entire article appears to be the work of real-estate agents. Wikipedia standards should be applied.
Pazouzou (talk) 14:24, 1 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

New article? - "The bursting of the buy to let bubble" edit

When do we start an article about all the people that bought into the buy to let bubble on the premise that "property only ever goes up"? Perhaps with examples of how much money they lost and talk about people that want to own their own home now having a chance.

Severe Problems edit

This article has major problems. The only reference is to an article by a Religious Affairs Correspondent from before the 2007-8 financial crisis, which is a rehash of a six year old report, and contains manifestly inaccurate predictions even in its headline.

I wouldn't know where to start.

Delete and start again? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.183.85.182 (talk) 06:24, 29 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

It does read as if parts of it were written by a tenant who hates landlords. 2.97.209.159 (talk) 01:59, 25 November 2013 (UTC)Reply
Agreed. bobrayner (talk) 23:45, 25 November 2013 (UTC)Reply


I have made substantial changes to this article to focus it on the article subject and bring it up to date. Further work is required! Tomintoul (talk) 09:44, 3 December 2015 (UTC)Reply

'Buy to let' or 'Buy-to-let' edit

There is inconsistency in the article about the phrase – any views on this? Tomintoul (talk) 09:50, 3 December 2015 (UTC)Reply

Position on Cause of house price inflation edit

The possible cause of house price inflation are discussed in the Thatcher Blair Consensus. This article seems to take the position that it solely down to Buy-to-let investors moving into the market. Other causes, such as sale of council houses, ending rent controls, failure to build enough houses, population increase, foreign direct investment, ending government subdivides on housing not mentioned. Suggest we just reference the Thatcher Blair Consensus article rather than develop a new discussion on the causes of house price inflation in this article.
John15CM (talk) 19:02, 13 June 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hyphenation edit

hyphens added to a few "buy to let"s in accordance with MOS:ARTCON. However, I can't move the article to correct the title. Can someone who is not an IP please oblige. 86.145.213.3 (talk) 13:52, 26 August 2018 (UTC)Reply

Tax Treatment edit

Regarding this section:

Tax treatment

Until 2015, Government policy in respect of buy-to-let had been relatively benign, but this changed in the Budgets and Autumn Statement of 2015.Four major steps were taken to reduce the attractiveness of the investment:[why?]

I'm not sure the addition of 'Why?' is helpful as there is no undisputed factual answer as the decision was purely political. I intend to delete it unless anyone else supports it. Tomintoul (talk) 09:18, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply