England’s Short-Let Register: What Landlords Need to Know Before March 2027
After years of consultation and repeated changes to the timetable, the government has now confirmed a firm date for England’s national register of short-term and holiday lets. Speaking in Parliament on 3 September 2026, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs ...
The Cumberland Holiday Let Index 2026: A Resilient, Maturing Market
The holiday let market has been the subject of plenty of speculation over the past couple of years. The abolition of the Furnished Holiday Let (FHL) tax regime, the prospect of tighter planning rules and rising operating costs led many ...
Bridging Finance for Investment Property: Why the Exit Now Decides the Deal
Bridging finance has always been repaid in one of two main ways: you sell the property, or you refinance onto a longer-term mortgage. What has changed is how hard lenders now test that plan before they lend. The exit is ...
Why a Mortgage Broker Beats AI: The Human Expertise a Chatbot Can’t Replace
Artificial intelligence can answer the questions you think to ask. A qualified broker answers the ones you didn’t – and stands behind the advice. AI tools have become a first port of call for people researching almost anything, mortgages included. ...
The Risks of Buying a New Build
The main risk is simple: you can become legally committed to complete before the property is finished, while your mortgage offer is already counting down. If the build slips and the offer expires, you may be left contractually bound to ...
Getting a Mortgage with Adverse Credit
If your credit file has a missed payment, a default or a County Court Judgment on it, the natural assumption is that a mortgage is off the table. In most cases it is not. Every month, UK lenders approve mortgages ...
Product Transfer or Remortgage? Which Route Is Right for You
When your fixed rate is coming to an end, you generally have two main ways to secure a new deal: a product transfer with your existing lender, or a remortgage to a new one. On the surface they can look ...
Is a Self-Employed Mortgage Based on Gross or Net Profit?
If you work for yourself, one worry comes up more than any other: will a mortgage lender look at everything my business turns over, or only what is left after tax? The honest answer is that neither extreme is right, ...
Porting Your Mortgage vs. Starting Again: What Really Happens When You Move
Moving home doesn’t mean losing a mortgage rate you’ve fought hard to keep. You can either port your existing deal across and carry your rate with you (usually without an early repayment charge), or redeem it and start fresh with ...
How HMO Mortgages Work: A Plain-English Guide
HMO mortgages aren’t just buy-to-let with extra bedrooms. Lenders value the property differently, cap borrowing at 70-75% loan-to-value, and stress-test the rent before they’ll lend. Get the licensing wrong and none of that matters. If you are looking to buy ...
A Beginner’s Guide to HMO Property Investing
A house in multiple occupation can out-earn a standard buy-to-let by renting room by room, but the upside comes with more to manage. Before you buy, check whether the property needs a licence, whether an Article 4 direction blocks conversion ...
The 75% Trap: Why the Bridging Loan You Are Quoted Is Not the Money You Receive
A 75% bridge does not hand you 75% of the price. Fees and interest come off the top first, so your real deposit is usually closer to a third. Here’s the maths, and how one investor used a bridge to ...
JBSP Case Study – FTB Purchase with a Parents Income
Ella, a first-time buyer, had the deposit but not quite enough income to buy her £270,000 flat. Adding her dad to the mortgage as a joint owner would have covered the shortfall, but it would also have triggered a £13,500 ...
Boosting Affordability Without the Stamp Duty Trap
Helping your child onto the property ladder can backfire at the Land Registry. Put a parent on the title alongside their child, and HMRC treats the parent as buying a second home, adding a 5% stamp duty surcharge and cancelling ...
Helping Your Child Buy a Home: Five Routes, and Why One Often Wins
Want to help your child buy a home? You’ve got five options: Joint ownership boosts what your child can borrow, but it comes with a nasty tax sting (the 5% stamp duty surcharge, plus losing first-time buyer relief). A JBSP ...
Expat Mortgage Case Study: How a Dubai-Based Buyer Secured a Devon Cottage Without the Holiday Let Restrictions
Expat clients often assume that buying a UK home to live in part-time and let the rest of the year only leaves one route open: a holiday let mortgage. The case below shows why that isn’t always true, and why ...
Moving Back to the UK: Your Expat Mortgage Explained
Coming home does not end your expat mortgage on the day you land, but the clock starts running. You must tell your lender once your residence status changes, and because expat products are built for non-residents, your mortgage will need ...
Expat Buy to Let vs Holiday Let Mortgages
An expat buy to let lends against long-term rent, and the mortgage terms stop you staying there yourself. An expat holiday let lends against seasonal bookings and usually allows 30 to 60 nights of your own use. Holiday lets lost ...
Expat holiday let mortgages: how many nights can you stay?
A dedicated holiday let mortgage caps your own use of the property, usually somewhere between 30 and 90 nights a year, set out in the mortgage terms. An expat residential mortgage with letting permitted has no fixed cap, because the ...
Buy to Let vs Holiday Let Mortgages
A clear, straightforward guide from Drake Mortgages Choosing between a Buy to Let (BTL) mortgage and a Holiday Let mortgage can feel complicated, especially following recent tax changes. Below is a simple, updated comparison to help you understand how each ...
Is a Second Charge Mortgage Right for You? Your Complete Guide to Making the Right Borrowing Decision
When you’re looking to raise money against your home-whether for home improvements, debt consolidation, helping family, or funding a business-it’s important to understand all the mortgage options available. As a homeowner, you may come across terms like remortgage, further advance, ...
Incorporating a Personally Owned Holiday Let: Essential Considerations for Property Owners
As the holiday-let market evolves, many property owners are exploring whether transferring a personally owned holiday let into a limited company could offer long-term tax or operational benefits. While incorporation can be attractive in some circumstances, the process is often ...
Using an SPV Ltd Company for Your Holiday Let
The Director’s Guide to Tax‑Efficient Funding with Intercompany Loans For UK director-shareholders, holding a holiday let inside a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) limited company can be an efficient way to invest, manage risk, and optimise tax. A powerful, often overlooked ...
What Are Flying and Creeping Freeholds?
Flying freeholds occur when part of your property sits above a neighbour’s land or building. Creeping freeholds are the opposite, extending underneath. Most UK mortgage lenders will consider these properties, though some have restrictions on the percentage of floor area ...