Buying to let - no idea how to and am I being ridiculous?

[Spareincoming]

Long story short; I’ve been left some money, the person who left it to me strongly advised me to use it to buy a house as DH and I’s home is owned by the family business he is part of.
We have no independent assets.
And whilst we have no plans to move or DH leave the business, my relative always told me we needed something that was an independent asset. I wish I’d listened more!

I have never bought a property so don’t know what I’m doing and haven’t done anything other than I’ve looked at one I would probably buy. In my budget. We live in Scotland but the house (and legal
stuff I imagine) is in England. Estate agent has said it’s a desirable rental area and my research shows that to be true

But! I spoke to a friend who is very much more clued up on financial matters than me and she said I’d be ridiculous to buy to let at this point in time; it will cost me a lot in stamp duty; that I would be stupid to have it in both mine and my DH’s name - it should be mine only etc. She’s scared me a bit to be honest.

All opinions welcome!

Just another point, are you fully aware of the tax implications on your income? Sorry haven’t read all comments but depending on your tax band you could end up paying a lot of tax on the rental income and you’ll have to make sure that’s put aside for when you do your tax return

Then do lodges/holiday type lets in Scotland. Honestly the rental market in England is going through massive changes. I’ve just filled
in property licensing where I don’t live in the same borough but I live 5 mins away from the property and I’ve been told my application might be rejected because I live outside the borough!!!

Just sold our two, split over tax years to reduce the cgt. both were inherited. all has been smooth and good tenants apart from one lot that sublet to dealers and mafia fraudsters, this house was in a posh area. took 8 months to get them out and now it could take about 16 months or longer. we had insurance so no losses incurred. if you go ahead, get rent gurantee insurance, its cheap at about £150 a year and its essential as covers court and bailiffs costs also. agents will shove anybody in just to get their fees so meet tenants yourself and do a bit of research....we looked up our bad tenants and quickly found they had been in prison in leicester for gun offences...agency never found this out whilst checking etc. returns are now quite low so i wouldnt go into this again. now have the cash earning 5.4% interest in yorkshire building society and no stress. have maxed out isas and premium bonds etc. also, lots of new regulations..about fire, windows, energy etc and licences..all extra cost and paperwork.

The FSCS current limit is £85k though there is discussion about putting it up to £110k. If it is more than the limit, while you decide about buying, put it into NS &I which covers higher balances.

As regards buying somewhere, if you do go down this route, FGS make sure you give tenants all necessary paperwork. If you miss a single thing, once, all sorts of rights are triggered for them. Be sure you take references and follow up in person if possible. I have lost count of the number of friends who have had what can only be termed ‘professional defaulters’ as tenants. Get somewhere near a station and a good or outstanding school if it is a family home.
nb you will be liable for CGT on any profit you make.

Do the Rebel Finance Course...it's free and I've no link other than having done it myself. Educated yourself then make a decision.

Speaking as a landlord myself, this really isn't the time to go into Buy to Let: increasing regulations make it much more difficult as expenses are rising fast. You'd get a better return from other investments, perhaps a good Stocks and Shares ISA for both of you and other investments which could be cashed in to add to your ISAs in future tax years,

Think carefully about if you want to be a landlord. It is not as easy as it sounds. There are lots of costs that you would not have if you simply invested the money - insurance, maintenance, stamp duty when you buy and capital gains when you sell.
Having said that with the right property it could be a good long term investment.
Get yourself a good agent - they are worth their weight in gold.