Best Locations for Buy-to-Let Returns to Change Under New Stamp Duty

Best Locations for Buy-to-Let Returns to Change Under New Stamp Duty

The best areas for buy-to-let returns are likely to change when the new Stamp Duty rules come in from April, warns Countrywide.

Landlords seeking the highest returns will have to look to different parts of the country when they are charged an extra 3% Stamp Duty on new property purchases. Find out more about the change here: /16883-2/

Chief Economist at Countrywide, Fionnuala Earley, states: “The effect of the new Duty will be to effectively increase the price investors pay and hence reduce the yield they achieve. New landlords must do their sums more carefully to make sure returns on investment add up.”

Countrywide’s latest research found that its West Midlands offices sold 16.7% of their properties to buy-to-let investors – the highest proportion for any region in England.

However, some individual cities have reported much larger percentages of their stock bought by landlords. These areas are most likely to see their markets affected more significantly when the Stamp Duty changes are enforced in April.

In Leeds, 41% of all Countrywide’s sales in the 12 months to October were to landlords. In Southampton, the figure was 38% and in Harrow, north London, it was 35%. Plymouth and Calderdale followed at 34%.

Earley adds: “While the region with the highest proportion of investors is the West Midlands, the highest concentrations of investors are spread more widely across the country.”¹

Are you expecting to change the locations you search for new properties in when the changes are implemented? Use our Stamp Duty calculator to work out how the price of your next investment will change: /calculator/

¹ https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/12/new-stamp-duty-may-redraw-buy-to-let-investment-map-says-countrywide