Selling a BTL

[Remmy123]

I have a BTL a small flat I rented out when my husband and I moved. Anyway I want to sell up it's hasn't gone up in price in years. We pay a fair bit of tax and unless you have a property portfolio you cannot offset anything so we are out of pocket.

everyone says we should hang on to it but i don't think property is a good investment any more.

is anyone else selling up?

I think a lot are selling up or trying to. Key is to price realistically, especially with flats.

I’ve sold already. I took the profit and paid CGT. Gave the proceeds to DDs as house deposits. So glad I’m out as the rules about getting tenants out are a nightmare. If you have a tenant, it’s not easy or quick to get them out. If they are empty, sell now. M

Not sure about the expenses bit. We still let out a holiday home and have expenses deducted from income I believe. However I don’t think you can then offset it against CGT. However you are right, get rid.

I sold my rental in December. I used to get £1200 pcm in rent. I have put the money in a savings account at 4.5% and am now getting £1000 in interest with no hassle or other expenses.

I’m selling all mine, 1 completed yesterday and the relief was unreal

Another one is due to go through in a few weeks and I put another on the market this week

As soon as the tenants leave, I’m selling

Just too much hassle, tax rule changes over the 19 years I’ve been doing it mean I make less net than using fixed rate savings and the stress is horrible - had lovely tenants most of the time but some really shitty experiences too

We have a tenant and he is very good - you can end contract if you are selling or doing work

we are just extending the lease (another rip off) then sell but also need to wait for fixed rate mortgage to end

I'll have to price is v well as saturated with people doing the same

we wint make much on it but what we do make must do something useful with it

That's amazing interest!

It's with Chase. It is a standard saving account with 2.25% interest and I get a "boost" every month of 2.25% for a year.

@Remmy123 And if they don’t move out?! It’s expensive and often people don’t want to go. It’s a hassle now.

I’m selling into a falling market for small flats- will not have made any capital growth in 10 years. It’s not turned out to be the effective diversification strategy I thought.

@VanCleefArpels Yes it’s a dead duck - no CGT though! We have a similar issue with our holiday home. We won’t get much capital appreciation after 17 years! Big mistake.

I’m selling mine but only because of a change in circumstances (split from partner and need the equity to buy a new home). I only had a BTL because ex and i both owned flats when we met so I never planned to be a landlord - but sold my original flat 6 years ago and bought a true BTL outside London, thinking I’d get more for my money. In the end (although I’ve been extremely lucky with tenants) it made much less rent than the original flat in London and has made no capital growth… upside of this is that there’s barely any CGT to pay when the sale completes!

a word of warning OP - if you hang on for the end of your fixed rate mortgage please remember that if you give your tenant notice anytime after 30th April this year you’ll need to give 6 months notice!

I’m having the same thoughts as I inherited my dad’s home during Covid and stupidly rented it out without actually thinking about it. I could actually get as much interest on the money as I do rent, without all the cost of repairs etc, but I’m looking into possibly selling tenanted, as my tenants, great as they are, would probably have to go to the council for housing if I evict them, which in our area means they’ll be given the “advice” to stay put until it goes to court, and I just haven’t got the money to go through that process, so it’s probably easier to take the hit on price and sell it with them still in it.

I'm was going to be selling off 3 of my btl's. One this year, one next year and one in 2028. Now EPC C has been put back until 2030 I will probably postpone sales a couple of years. All 3 houses have good tenants in, families with DC who look after houses and pay rent on time. They are ECP D 67-69 points. 70 is a C. They won't get a C grade unless I have expensive internal cladding done. They are all Victorian 3 bedroom terraced houses and I've been quoted £13.5 for each one. For tenants to save about £70 a year on electricity/gas. It's just not economically viable so I'll be selling 1 house in 2028, 1 in 2029 and 1 in 2030. I'll have to pay a lot of CGT as I've had them for many years but that's what I'll be doing. It will make 6 adults and 8 DC homeless unless they can find similar but it is doubtful because they are in a city where much housing is terraced and other LL I know are all going to sell too if Victorian terraced.

I’m selling tenanted to avoid making my tenants homeless.

If they have enough notice they can look elsewhere - selling with tenants will be a nightmare unless you are selling to landlords

my tenant is a single guy and very reasonable he is also alluding to wanting to serve notice soon so I don't foresee any issues with that.

we are so out of pocket we can't afford to continue for much longer

I am selling to landlords, obviously

Can you sell to your tenants? Saves estate agent fees at least and no loss of rent.

I'm selling mine too as the current tenants are refusing to accept an increase to market rate rents, after several years of below market rates, and have threatened me by saying that 'they could be very awkward ' if I wanted them to move out. I will be getting them out as soon as I can.

Just be aware that if you have a managed property and sell to your tenants, then you may still have to pay estate agents fees to the agents who introduced them to you even if they introduced them as tenants and not purchasers.

I've had the flat for 20 years and after sales costs are taken into account I don't expect to make any profit on the sale at all. It was a sensible investment strategy at one point but it isn't any more.

Regretfully had to sell my one and only BTL last October 2025 due to change of circumstances. I self managed, was proactive and supportive.

It took a year to get the tenants out. They struggled I think to find alternative rental given the lower than market rent I charged but never communicated with me so it was challenging to be helpful despite me reaching out.

In the end I had to engage Eviction Specialists or it would have dragged on and on, but lo and behold on the eve of court proceedings they suddenly moved out. Moonlit flit.

I cleaned it up 🙄 and put it on the market. Sold STC within a month. Took a hit but the relief from worry was worth every penny.

CGT is an effing rip off, bunce for government like Stamp Duty is. I’ve paid my CGT so at last I’m free to get on with my life discharged from that particular stress and sleepless nights.

I do not recommend being a LL with just one BTL. You need a portfolio to ”carry” your property if tenants stop paying rent or you have a void period. Legislation which I don’t disagree with, is also making BTL tedious and heavy weight.

Not great for diversification, BTL is for people who really enjoy it, or bought many years ago.

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/rental-market/buy-to-let-repossessions-jump-more-than-a-quarter-lenders-reveal/

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/annual-rents-fall-for-the-first-time-in-15-years-heres-where-they-are-slipping-the-most/ar-AA1Uum7c

Yeah. We sold up. Not worth it anymore.

I sold mine last year, the return was good as I owned outright but the tax stressed me out and the service charge kept going up and up. It was a relief to sell it.

Not entirely sure what an article about repossessions has to do with anything. Property capital growth WAS a way to provide return on cash assets also invested in equities, bonds and other products that is to say a diversified portfolio. However the financial world has changed. So we are changing tack.

It’s 4 months notice if you intend to sell or move in. You cannot relet within 12 months in those circumstances so of the market is slow/ dead you could be left with an empty property for a very long time. Well done Government for creating circumstances where even fewer homes are available to live in!