Tuesday 25 March 2008

UK Apartments

The era of the 'Buy-to-Let Investment Club' (BLIC) phenomenon that swept Britain over the past decade seems, along with the bumper property price rises seen over that period, to be riding off into the sunset.

These clubs offered 'clients' access to significant discounts on standard rates for buy-to-let properties across the UK. The properties were very often in city centre regeneration areas and were predominantly apartment units.

At one stage such clubs were estimated to be responsible for up to ¼ of all apartment purchases in the
UK. These clubs typically negotiate bulk discounts of up to 15% for their members on large developments across the UK. The properties are then either 'flipped' on to other buyers or rented out with the rental covering the cost of the mortgage. So the theory went in any case. Unfortunately the proliferation of such clubs produced a false apartment market in the UK, which now appears to be in the process of collapsing. Many apartment owners across the UK are in serious trouble with no-one wanting to buy the units and no renters available to stay in them either.

The announcement by Inside Track, one of the largest of these clubs, that it is to discontinue its seminars, for which clients were charged anything up to £14,000, may well be the death knell of this spate of such 'bulk investment opportunities'. Many will not lament their passing.

Below are two interesting articles on the subject.

This Is Money, MoneyWeek

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