Investing in UK Distressed Property

Find out how to invest in UK bank repossessed property at a free seminar on June 22nd in Dublin.



The strength of the euro relative to sterling presents a window of opportunity for the Irish investor looking to invest in UK distressed property. Most commentators agree that the euro is currently overvalued and is likely to weaken against sterling in the coming months following a combination of some positive economic news from the UK and the European Central Bank’s ponderous response to the financial crisis.



It is currently possible in the UK to buy bank repossessed property at discounts of up to 50% on the property's previous sale value. If an Irish investor had purchased a typical city centre apartment in Manchester, for example, at £180,000 in June 2007 when the exchange rate was 1.47 euros to the pound it would have cost him or her €264,600. A repossessed property in the same block in many cases would now typically cost £100,000, while the exchange rate is now 1.15. This means that the same apartment, if a repossession, would now cost an investor €115,000 - a staggering difference of €149,600!



This is an example of a property recently sourced for an investor in Yorkshire:

• Purchased for £74,000 in 2009
• Previously sold for £184,000 in 2007
• Discount of 60%
• Gross yield 8%

Typical yields on bank repossessed property range from 7 to 9% so an investor can achieve good income as well as a healthy discount.



The seminar starts at 6.30pm, lasts for two hours and will cover the following topics:

• The outlook for the UK property market
• How to source distressed property
• Distressed property criteria (what to look for)
• The legal pitfalls of buying distressed property
• Arranging Finance
• The services on offer

Places are limited and allocated on a strictly first-come first-served basis - please click here to secure your place.



If you can’t make the seminar but would like to meet up or discuss distressed property please email us at contact@OverseasCafe.com and we can have same arranged.

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Want to know more about the UK Property Market?

For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For UK related stories on the OverseasCafe.com's topical blog click here.

The Lucky Banker

Ok, at first sight a recent UK seller seems to have it all. He has just sold his Knightsbridge home for the princely sum of £18m. Some achievement, you might say, given current market conditions.

If you look a little closer though, all may not be as it seems.

The asking price for the house was a whopping £40m. before the bust hit. The developer actually rejected offers of £33m. before the economic hurricane swept all before it. 

The buyer in question is Raffaelle Mincioneo, who you might also think is the luckiest guy in the world, but he is in fact a banker - not a jolly lot these days - but then he's obviously doing ok for himself if he can afford to shell out £18m for a Knightsbridge home in the depths of the worst recession in our lifetime. 

He's obviously been blessed with good fortune in his life as he was once dating Heather Mills - now that is a lucky escape. 

The full story from the Daily Mail is here. 

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OverseasCafe.com UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here. 

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Potential Changes to Letting Rules in the UK

The Times reports that all private landlords in the UK may have to be registered before letting residential property under new government plans mooted to curb abuse in the rental market.

It is estimated that the number of private landlords has risen to about one million in England and Wales and it is felt within the government that moves must be taken to prevent unscrupulous landlords from exploiting tenants.

The proposal is that anyone letting a residential property would have to pay a fee, mooted to be £50 to start with, to register with a national body. Those required to register would include developers, buy-to-let investors and those who have become landlords because they cannot sell their properties and have let them out instead.

See the full article from the Times here. 

If you would like information on current opportunities in the UK please fill out this form and our partners will be in touch. 

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For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Interest in UK rises - but no Buyers

The RICS market report for February is interesting, although it won't stop UK agents tearing their hair out. The report says: "New buyer enquiries increase at the fastest pace since August 2006, but newly agreed sales and sales per surveyor continue to fall. "

This is remarkable when you consider that August 2006 was in the middle of the chaotic boom that preceded the current unprecedented downturn (unprecedented in our lifetimes in any case). The fact that there is so much activity in the market would indicate that there is a willingness to do business, but obviously not at the price levels we are currently experiencing. This can mean only one thing, further price falls to come. 

The report also says: "Sales expectations and price expectations both improve, but the latter measure is still extremely negative. The seasonally adjusted balance of surveyors reporting falling rather than rising prices deteriorated again slightly from 76.6 in January to 78.3 in February."

On the plus side, the increase in enquiries is the fourth consecutive month in which this has happened, which indicates demand in the marketplace. RICS sees this turnaround in enquiries as an indication that some level of buyer interest is returning to the market.

The interest is most likely being triggered by the sharp cuts in interest rates as well as the decline in house prices; both factors have improved affordability. The sales to stock ratio, however, is still close to December’s all time low of 12.9%.

From a regional perspective, the price balance improved in London, East Anglia, Wales, the North and the West Midlands. Everywhere else, including Northern Ireland and Scotland, the price balance deteriorated.

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UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here. 

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

UK Property Prices Tumble

A recent report by Knight Frank has said that prime residential prices in central London fell by 3.6% in November, the second largest fall on record after the decline of 3.9% recorded in October. This latest decline in prices leaves them 14.1% lower than this time last year, having fallen by 9.3% over the last three months alone.

According to the report all areas and property types have been hit by falling prices but houses are depreciating at a faster rate than flats. 

On the upside for agents in the UK the weak pound is beginning to re-stimulate foreign interest in prime London property, an interest which had fallen off greatly over the past year.

Liam Bailey of Knight Frank commented: “These dramatic falls may be painful to vendors, but prime London property is increasingly looking like very good value, particularly to foreign buyers who also benefit from the weak pound. Indeed, a fall of 15% may translate to a fall of as much as 35% to someone watching the market from the USA, as the pound has fallen by 20% against the dollar since the beginning of the year. There has been a increase in interest from such buyers over the past few weeks, which has not yet been translated into activity."

You'll find the full story, with a month by month price fall breakdown, on our website here. 

There is also an interesting piece in London's Evening Standard on the 'Return of the £100,000 home." It is a run down of prices at a Lodon auction house where "18 lots changed hands for £100,000 or less, an extraordinary total given that only 42 homes were sold in the whole of London in this price bracket in August."

You'll find the full article here. 

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For a selection of property in the UK click here. 

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Top 10 most Transparent Property Markets

People often query how do they even know where to start when they are starting looking at overseas property. Well there's no easy answer to this question but, as most people are looking for a fairly 'risk free' option, a list which compares the property markets in various areas and marks them accordingly would be a very good start.

Well we've good news for you, one already exists. Jones, Lang, LaSalle have had a global transparency index for a number of years now. If nothing else it will give you an idea of which countries have a mature and transparent method of transaction property and which ones are likely to be more risky. 

This is the Jones Lang LaSalle bumpf on the list: The 2008 Real Estate Transparency Index is a study of real estate market transparency in 82 markets worldwide.  Started in 1999, the bi-annual study was designed as a strategic tool to help the real estate market better understand the processes involved in and risks of doing real estate business in different countries and cities around the world. It can be used with other international metrics to develop a global investment strategy or  to refine a corporate expansion strategy.

The link to the index is here, you'll have to register with JLL to get access to it but there's no cost involved and the resulting report is well worth a read. For those of you who couldn't be bothered reading it, here is the top ten (the links take you to listings of property for the country on the OC site). 

Tier 1 - Highly Transparent

1. Canada

2. Australia

3. United States

4. New Zealand

5. United Kingdom

6. Netherlands

7. France

8. Sweden

9. Belgium

Tier II - Transparent

10. Ireland

14. Germany

16. Spain

19. Italy

20. Switzerland

21. South Africa

22. Portugal

25. Poland

Tier III - Semi-Transparent

27. Hungary

32. Dubai

35. Bulgaria

49. China Tier 1 Cities

50. India Tier 1 Cities

51. Croatia

Tier IV - Low Transparency

58. Morocco

59. Egypt

67. Turkey

London Rents Suffer after Lehman Collapse

The Financial Times reports that the reprecussions of the collapse of Lehman brothers has been very swiftly felt in London rents, particularly in the City, the area most closely associated with the financial services industry. 

The piece says: "Cluttons, a network of estate agents covering property sales and lettings across London, has already had a number of tenants based in the Belgravia and Wapping areas give notice on their rental properties since the investment house declared itself bankrupt."

This will obviously be a very worrying development for those relying on lettings in the City, and there are plenty of Irish property investors among these. 

You can read the full FT report here. 

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UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here. 

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Continued UK Weakness May Attract Irish Buyers

The RICS UK housing market survey for August 2008 showed that the average number of transactions fell further in August as a lack of mortgage finance continues to stifle the ability of buyers to access the market.

81% more Chartered Surveyors reported falling rather than rising house prices, a decrease from 83.1% in July.

The continued inability of many to secure mortgage finance is reflected in the collapse in transactions.  The average number of transactions per surveyor (over the last three months) is now at 12.7, the lowest figure since the survey began, with estate agents in a number of regions reporting less than a sale per week. 

In June and July, surveyors reported that many sellers had dropped asking prices to more realistic levels and that predatory buyers were waiting to pounce on bargains, but the traditionally weak month of August has seen this interest stagnate.  

Commenting, RICS spokesperson Jeremy Leaf said:

"A lack of mortgage liquidity is the key issue which is keeping the housing market from showing any real sign of recovery.

"While money is scarce, many will continue to be denied the next step on the property ladder. The Government’s stamp duty policy will not be enough to kick-start transactions and is more likely to assist buy-to-let investors with better access to finance than the first-time buyers it was aimed at. More needs to be done to reinvigorate a market whose confidence has taken a severe knock.

"In the absence of much transactional activity many home owners are being forced to rent their properties while they wait for lending criteria to be loosened and demand to pick up."

The full report can be found here. 

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UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

Who's Been Looking Where - June 2008

The summer is here, not that you'd know that by the weather, but on the calendar it says July so we'll just take it as read that it is actually summer.

Our final Who's Been Looking Where for the Spring season, compiled from searches on Google over the month of June, has just been released and those selling in the US will be mightily pleased. Florida has topped the charts for the first time ever followed closely by the UK. The rest of the USA isn't that far behind in 7th position so the US is proving the market in which the Irish are interested these days. These two have been bedfellows at the top of the charts since the current 'great depression' hit on the back of the US banks' crazy decisions on lending policies.

Spain also seems to be attracting substantial interest and has climbed the charts significantly over the past year. France and Portugal are the big losers this year while both the Canaries and Italy have shown considerable strength this year.

At the bottom of the top ten places of most interest you'll find Turkey and Bulgaria.

You'll find the full report here.

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For a listing of property in Florida click here.

For a selection of property in the USA click here.

To view properties in Spain: Click Here

For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For a selection of property in France click here.

More Bleak News for UK Property Owners

The UK's biggest building society Nationwide says house prices are now going up by just 1.1 per cent a year - the slowest pace of growth for 12 years.

The mortgage giant also warns that property values could fall by as much as 5 per cent this year.

And despite the Bank of England cutting the base rate of interest to 5.25 per cent in February, the Nationwide, along with mortgage lenders owned by rivals Halifax and Lloyds TSB, are raising interest rates on some of their most popular deals.

See the full blog here on Sky.

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UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from UK agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring UK property click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

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100m for a London Apartment

So the UK market is somewhat depressed then, eh?

It hasn't stopped the world's most expensive flat selling for £100 million. Sheikh Hamad, the foreign minister of Qatar, is rumoured to have purchased a penthouse home in One Hyde Park, promoted as the most exclusive apartment block in the world.

This is one of 86 luxury units on the edge of Hyde Park opposite Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. According to The Times the flats have 24-hour room service to the level of the Ritz, bullet-proof windows, eye scanners in lifts and spectacular views over Hyde Park and The Serpentine.

Just be aware that not everyone is agreed on the price of the apartment, estimates vary from £20m to the staggering £100m reported in The Times.

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