ASK289: Is my crystal ball working correctly? PLUS: Is a rent cap on the way?

On this week’s episode of Ask Rob & Rob the guys are trying to look into the future to answer this week’s two questions.  First up we’ve got Sarah.  Sarah and her family live abroad but have one rental property here in the UK.  She needs to re-mortgage the property at the end of this year and has been given the option of a 5-year fixed mortgage. Sarah wants to also release some equity from the property to take the LTV up to 75%.  However, she’s trying to run some numbers to see if it will be beneficial. She’s going off the basis of a 5% growth on property prices each year and then a 25% drop when the market crashes.  If Sarah goes ff these numbers, in five years when the fixed rate ends the house won't be a profitable and she may be unable to re-mortgage, due to being an expat.   So, are these the right figures that Sarah should be working off?  Our second question is from Michael.  He’s wanting to know if it’s likely that the government will introduce a rental cap now that there’s a ban on section 21 eviction notices.  He’s already seen it come into play in Ireland where you can only increase your rents by 2% per year, unless you can prove you’ve done substantial work to the property to justify a significant increase.  There’s plenty to get through today so tune in to find out what they say.    Do you have a buy to let or property investment related question for Rob & Rob? You could feature on the next episode by giving us a call on 013 808 00035 and leaving a message with your name and question (normal UK call rates apply).   Or if you prefer, click here to leave a recording via your computer instead.  The next question on Ask Rob & Rob could be yours.   Have you joined us over on the Property Hub Forum yet? Our online community is friendly, informative, and the members are waiting to welcome you with open arms. So get yourself over and introduce yourself.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.