Frequently asked
questions

Yes. The UK is open for investment and all nationalities can buy. About 30% of our clients are non-UK nationals, many of them expats currently living or working in the Middle East, Africa, the Far East and Europe. The rules and rights for overseas buyers are the same.

Non-UK residents — even UK nationals — pay an extra 2% stamp duty when buying any UK property. This was introduced on 1 April 2021.

Yes. Our process is designed for all clients, including those who cannot travel. Your ID can be attested remotely by lawyers over a Zoom call, to the satisfaction of the UK Land Registry, and we provide full instructions.

During 2020–21 very few clients visited, yet they purchased over 400 properties entirely remotely. We have kept that system in place.

No. Purchasing property in the UK gives you no automatic residency, work rights or permanent visa. As an investor it will be straightforward to obtain visit visas, but nothing more.

If residency is your main aim, do not buy a property for that reason — seek legal immigration advice first.

No. Most of our overseas clients do not have one. Rental payments are made into your own account overseas, usually quarterly.

Some clients later open a non-resident UK account, or a GBP account with their own bank. Note that under current rules a standard UK bank account cannot be opened if you are not resident here.

Photo ID and three months of bank statements showing the funds, to satisfy anti-money-laundering rules. Under Land Registry rules the ID must be verified — we arrange a Zoom call with a UK solicitor who verifies your original passport, and we pay that fee.

Source of funds. The simplest route is to have the required funds in your account around three months before final payment, then provide three months of statements — online statements are fine and do not need certifying.

Any large payments into the account during that period which will be used for the purchase need explaining (inheritance, property sale, loan) or a statement from the source account. Gifts need a short gift letter, which we can draft, plus the donor's ID and statement. Cash deposits cannot be accepted.

Payments begin once you have agreed to purchase and signed the reservation agreement. All properties are priced in pounds sterling.

The remaining payment, less the £3,000, plus stamp duty is paid prior to completion and title registration. Receipts and statements are issued after each payment. Final payment is normally a couple of months after reservation, and can be extended to six months on request. Rent starts to be credited one month after completion.

Have a Zoom meeting first — it covers almost every question and concern, and a visit is not required to buy. If you are buying for the first time and would like the extra confidence, we recommend one.

A member of our team will show you around and you can meet senior staff. The best time to visit is before you make any reservation. We are four hours north of London; a visit takes three to four hours and needs a prior appointment, ID details and a video meeting beforehand.

Clients select from pictures, floorplans and location maps. The contractual guarantees on the property are what give buyers the confidence to purchase without a physical viewing.

You cannot view the specific property you buy, as it is usually already tenanted — but we can show you typical vacant examples of each type. If you do visit, do so before reservation.

All are in the North of England, across 28 areas. The majority are in the North East, in towns north of Leeds — Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Hartlepool, Teesside and County Durham (TS, DL and DH postcodes).

We also offer H2L, H3L, H4L and H5L types in the North West, mainly in the Lancashire towns north of Manchester. Prices on these are £10,000 higher than the prices shown, with correspondingly higher rents.

All of these areas have strong rental demand with gross yields around 8%, are performing well economically, and house prices are expected to rise better here than in the South over the medium to long term.

Properties in the UK are normally priced and rented unfurnished. Demand for furnished homes has risen among certain tenants who will pay higher rents.

Flexi-Furnished means the property is provided with furniture matched to the exact needs of the tenancy. That lets us charge the maximum rent while keeping our costs low. Your rent does not change — you always receive the Flexi-Furnished rate of 7%.

No. Around 80% of UK housing stock is roughly 80 years old, and there are proportionally very few new properties in the UK. All of ours are over 80 years old and more solidly built than modern equivalents — typically real stone or brick with slate roofs.

There are three main categories in the UK.

Category 1 — Freehold and 999-year leasehold. Grouped together, because 999 years is a long time; market value is the same and both are treated similarly for purchase and sale. Every property we sell falls into this category. All North East properties are pure freehold; most North West (East Lancashire) properties are the 999-year type. This is the best category, and the only one we sell.

Category 2 — 99 or 125-year leasehold. Popular in London, and almost all apartments and student flats. Worth less, particularly when old with few years remaining. Below 60 years the value suffers as mortgages become harder to obtain, though leases can now be extended without excessive penalty.

Category 3 — 3 to 20-year leasehold. Should be treated as long-term rental rather than true purchase.

Apartments are popular in city centres but are leasehold units, often with high service charges for common facilities. New leases vary and service charges and ground rents can rise at five-year intervals. Net rental yields are much lower than terraced houses.

Many flats built over the past decade were sold by developers at high prices, so capital growth may be limited. Off-plan and under-construction property is especially risky.

These are built by developers, managed by student letting companies and sold by agents as investments. They carry high management costs and service charges, come with shorter leases, and can only be sold to another investor.

That last point is the real problem: you cannot exit unless you find another investor, so market value does not rise — it tends to fall, as there is no genuine resale market. We have helped many clients who came to us wanting out of such investments.

Take extra care. The risks remain high and almost all such properties are leasehold. Projects can be cancelled, completion delayed and letting delayed again. High-rise buildings may fail strict local fire regulations, at extra cost to leaseholders. Prices are often inflated because the properties are hard to compare.

For investment, only consider property that is built and already rented out — and buy from a company that controls the property and remains responsible to you after the sale. Apartment sales often involve a developer, builder, seller, freeholder, management company, letting agent and sales company; the sales company may have no control over what happens long term.

Yes. We have added a range of good-value semi-detached houses — H7 and H8 — which deliver the same investment returns and the same guarantees. They attract longer-term tenants and are good investments if you have sufficient funds.

No. Our properties are in selected areas of the North West and North East where prices are low and rental demand is high, which is what makes them best for investment. Elsewhere the risks are higher for both you and us, because investment returns are lower.

We also run our own management teams in both regions rather than relying on third parties, which keeps costs low and makes us directly accountable to our clients.

Purchase costs are low and fixed at £999, covering all admin fees, local search fees, 12 months of building insurance and UK Land Registry registration.

Stamp duty is payable to the Government at 5%, and you can gain exemption if you do not own another property. For a property of £74,999 stamp duty, if payable, is £3,750.

If you have not been in the UK for more than 182 days in the 12 months before completion, an additional 2% stamp duty applies. If you become UK resident within two years of completion you may be able to reclaim it.

Yes you can — but it will cost you more. Market price varies with what is included, the underlying condition, how recently it was renovated, and street location at a very local level.

Even current asking prices in the same postcode or street in the North vary greatly. Houses next door to each other can differ by around £20,000, purely because of internal condition and degree of renovation. These houses sit below re-build cost, so renovation has a large effect on price.

Be wary of derelict and auction properties too: they sell for far more than the guide prices used to attract bidders, often come with major issues and can end up costing more than open-market stock. Even a house given to you free of charge, needing electrics, heating, windows, roof, damp-proofing, kitchen, bathroom, decoration and carpets, can end up costing more than £74,999 — which is what we deliver everything for, on a 2-bed house.

No. For investment properties, the prices shown are the actual final contract prices and you will not be able to purchase lower.

The price may be higher if there is a delay between receiving the information and signing the reservation agreement, because low-cost UK prices are rising. The only way to secure the lowest price is to decide sooner — once the agreement is signed, your price is fixed and will not increase. Discounts are not available even for multiple purchases, though there may be some saving on purchase costs.

Prices vary by rental yield, as they do all over the world. It is possible to acquire slightly lower-cost properties, but the rents are lower and they usually need work before they can be let, so overall value is no better.

We do not sell such properties because we have to deliver an agreed net rent. The prices on the property types page are the lowest we can sell for, and they will rise over the long term. Currently the lowest-cost properties we sell are around £75,000.

Rental yields fall as properties get larger — prices are much higher but rents are not — so we do not offer these deals on larger semi-detached or detached houses.

Everything we sell is priced between £74,999 and £130,999, from small 2-bed terraces through to 3-bed semi-detached homes.

No. If your aim is investment, buy multiple lower-cost properties. They will grow better in value, give a higher rental yield, carry lower risk and offer more flexibility than one large detached house.

Complete the purchase of one property first, then buy more once you have been through the process — particularly if you have not purchased in the UK before.

Compare against well-renovated properties currently for sale, not the lowest-priced listings. Because prices in the North are low in absolute terms, condition has a proportionally large effect: a property in poor condition needing extensive repairs, roof work and full renovation can cost well over £20,000 to bring up to standard, which is why it is cheaper to begin with.

Our properties are fully renovated and guaranteed for as long as you remain a client, so compare them with well-renovated stock. Listings marked "guide price" or "offers over" are auctions, where the selling price is much higher than the guide and auction costs add around £6,000.

Three reasons. First, many properties sold in recent years were vacant and in very poor condition; investors bought them, renovated them fully and let them out. Website valuations are based on those past prices and algorithms, and take no account of renovation.

Second, prices have been rising — on average houses have doubled roughly every 10 to 11 years.

Third, many properties sell at auction, where the true cost is around £6,000 to £8,000 higher than the recorded price because auction costs are not registered with it.

We review other areas regularly. At present, as in other countries, lower-cost properties with high rental yields remain the best form of low-risk property investment. Prices in London, the South and major cities are far higher and rental yields lower.

We offer the Net Rent System as standard. It is worth understanding the difference.

Gross Rent System — 8%. This is the market rent for properties in these areas. A property costing £74,999 will on average deliver around £6,000 gross rent, if fully occupied all year by a reliably paying tenant with no void periods. In practice you receive less, and with a bad tenant or a long vacancy, much less. On top of that an agent charges a management fee of 12% to 18% of the rent, plus repairs and maintenance as they arise.

Net Rent System — 7% for a minimum of 5 years. This is the rate for our standard Flexi-Furnished houses. It is paid even when no rent is collected from a tenant — during a void period, when a tenant does not pay, or for any other reason the rent is not coming in. It is the figure that reaches your bank account after all costs, whatever happens.

You rent the property directly to us, so there are no agents and no management fees. Other agencies charge 10% to 15% plus VAT — 12% to 18% — and none of that applies. On top of the rent you get capital growth in value.

Our underlying baseline net rent rate is 5% of the original property price, fixed for the first three years and then rising each year in line with rent inflation. In the first three years we add an extra 1% because maintenance costs are lower on freshly renovated properties. Unfurnished properties pay 6% net, guaranteed for the first three years only.

Yes. Our owners generally ask us to continue under the Net Rent System — but you are not tied to us. After the first three years you can use any other agent or manage the property yourself by giving us six months notice.

You rent the property directly to us. We are your tenant, we pay you a net rent and we cover all costs, so you have no property maintenance costs at all for as long as we remain your tenant. Included:

• Annual gas and electrical certificates
• All repairs of any nature — plumbing, leaks, roof and boiler problems
• Council tax and any other bills during void periods
• End tenant damage, eviction and court costs

The only thing you pay for is property insurance after the first year: £99 for a small 2-bed house, up to a maximum of £149 for a large 3-bed semi-detached.

Clients assume capital growth is better in London, the South, and on more expensive properties. It is not. Long-term growth rates across all areas of the UK and all price points are remarkably similar — around 7% a year over the past 60 years, with houses on average doubling every 10 to 11 years.

As an example, the 2-bed houses we sell today for around £75,000 were selling for around £300 in these northern areas 70 years ago. At the same time, similar 2-bed houses in London sold for five times that, at £1,500. Today those London houses sell for £350,000 — still around five times more. Over the very long term, growth rates have been very similar.

Over the short term there are differences, and our view is that growth in the decade to 2030 is likely to be higher in the North than the South. After a period of recession, northern towns in the North West and North East are booming economically, with falling unemployment, rising population and rising housing demand. Within the North, growth is likely to be similar across all good communities — so provided you select a well-renovated property at the correct market price in any of our 28 areas, your long-term growth should be comparable.

On a low-cost property, no. Historical growth is heavily influenced by changes in the condition and renovation of that specific house — strong growth over five years may simply mean the property was in poor condition, was renovated, and resold higher. It is very hard, even for experts, to predict future growth on any particular property.

Our advice: provided properties are categorised well and reflect the current market, select any one you like. Future capital growth is likely to be similar to others of that type. Past growth has surprisingly little influence.

Yes. You become the legal owner and always retain day-to-day management control. You can resell, rent out or use the property yourself as you wish. Even when you rent it to us you do so directly as the owner — there are no management agents involved.

That is what lets you be a passive investor while keeping full control. You can terminate the rental agreement with us at any time, on any day, after the required notice period so we can rehouse our tenant.

No. We offer to rent your property to make things easy for you, but these are standard commodity properties and you are not tied to us. You have 100% control of the management at all times and can let it yourself, use any other letting agent, or occupy it yourself after the required notice period.

Everything we do is designed to make it easy for you — not to limit your choices.

Many couples buy under Joint Ownership, where both own the property equally and it passes automatically to the survivor. Parents and children sometimes use it too, so the property passes automatically to the child. We allow up to three joint owners, with a small extra admin fee if there are more than two.

Tenants in Common is the alternative, where each person holds a fixed share (25/75, 50/50) which passes to their estate or under their will rather than to the other owner. We do not normally use this unless specifically asked.

No — these are already rented out at the time of transfer, so you would need to give us the required notice. After the first three years you can give six months notice, we move the tenant, and you can then use the property yourself.

Most investors do not do this. They leave the property rented to us and use the rental income to rent something suitable for themselves.

Unless your stays run to four to six months, this is not practical. The issues:

• Properties cannot be left empty for long periods — security, and damp if the house is not lived in
• Tenancy agreements normally run for a minimum of 12 months
• Even after notice, the property may need cleaning, painting and furnishing before you move in
• All utilities need switching to your name and back again, several with long lead times
• You may want holidays elsewhere — London, for example — while our properties are all in the North
• The property may sit empty after you leave, earning no rent

It works out better to buy a pure investment property, leave it let, and use part of the rental income for holiday accommodation. That is what our clients end up doing, even when they start out thinking otherwise.

If that is your main aim, do not purchase yet. The property may not be in the right location or community for your child, even if it is near the town you expect them to study in. It is better for them to rent near the campus initially, with the freedom to move somewhere convenient and safe.

The better route is a pure investment property left permanently let. Keep the rental income in the UK and use it to pay for your child's university accommodation — more flexible for both of you. Rent can be paid into the child's bank account with the owner's permission; we would need to check their passport copy.

Yes. We can help you resell and we can also buy back. Solicitors will be involved and the process takes around three months, so budget for that.

If you are looking to resell well within two years you should not purchase, as purchase and sale costs may leave you with little profit.

We are estate agents and letting agents, but we work differently. Under our system you rent the property to us; we pay you a net rent and maintain the property at our cost. We become the landlord, sublet to our own tenants, and take on all the responsibilities and liabilities that come with it.

Other agents will not do this. They profit from you, by charging extras and for maintenance. We profit by keeping your property well maintained and let to good tenants, so we can achieve a higher rent than the one we pay you.

Even while rented to us, you retain 100% day-to-day control and can terminate at any time with the required notice, then let the property yourself, use another agent, or occupy it.

If you have the time, are willing to take on the responsibilities and liabilities, and want to handle things yourself, then doing it yourself with a normal estate agent and letting agent is indeed best — especially if you live near the investment location. Many such houses will need renovation and must be legally compliant before letting, then maintained on an ongoing basis.

Otherwise we deliver better overall value with no hassle, and over the long term it works out more profitable. The key difference: unlike a letting agent, we do not act as an agent. We rent the property directly from you, so the tenant is ours and the safety, maintenance and tenant issues are our problem, not yours.

The 2-Step Process, because there is no interest and no mortgage fees. On a typical example it works out around £8,200 lower cost than a buy-to-let mortgage over three years, with no interest-rate risk and no approval process.

We do not do mortgages. They delay the process, do not represent good value, and add uncertainty and risk. With a mortgage the interest cancels out the net rent and the whole debt remains outstanding, so you never fully own the property until it is repaid.

See the full 2-Step comparison

UK residents who meet the criteria can buy using a buy-to-let mortgage, but up-front mortgages are difficult to obtain and slow to process. We do not offer them, though you can remortgage yourself later if you wish.

Mortgages are not yet available for non-UK residents. We advise all clients to buy with cash and possibly remortgage later if needed and eligible.

Yes. The reservation agreement lays out the terms clearly, funds are held in client accounts where they legally belong to you, and two guarantees apply.

1. Property Guarantee. The property will be maintained in good rentable condition, free of structural or other significant issues, at no cost to you. Should such issues arise in future they are fixed at no cost to you. This holds for as long as you remain a client, and if you terminate the management at any point the property is handed back in good rentable condition, free of such problems.

2. Purchase Process Guarantee. Your selected property will be transferred with no significant issues on local searches and titles, and you will become the registered owner. Should any significant issue arise, we will offer to exchange the property for another of the same type that is acceptable to you. Because our group buys the properties first, searches and titles are already checked and confirmed before transfer. There have never been any such issues — the guarantee exists for peace of mind.

• Discuss your requirements and confirm such an investment suits your needs. Review the property offer sheets and select a type, for example H2.
• Provide ID information — passport photo page and address. Kept confidential, required for AML procedures.
• Our admin team sends the reservation agreement for your selected type, with the minimum specification of that house type. You can switch type later at property selection.
• The agreement sets out the whole process and what each side must do. We follow all of its terms.
• Arrange a Zoom meeting. You can also visit, before reservation or later, to see our operation, the areas and the property types.
• Once happy, reserve by signing the agreement and lodging the £3,000 payment into the client account, where all funds stay until property transfer.
• Over the next four to six weeks we agree and allocate a specific property of your selected type that you are completely happy with, then transfer and register it in your name at the Land Registry. You receive the completion summary and, later, the title documents.
• Clients then go onto the net guaranteed rent system. Net guaranteed rent is 7% of the property price per year for Flexi-Furnished houses, or 6% unfurnished, paid into your bank account at the end of each calendar quarter. No management fees, no other costs.
• After purchase we apply for your HMRC reference so rent can be paid without deduction of income tax, up to the £12,570 allowance.

No — for several reasons:

• Funds are not pooled. You purchase the property with your own specific funds.
• The property is 100% owned by you, and you hold legal title at the Land Registry.
• These are standard commodity properties, easy to let or resell. After purchase you can let directly, let via agents, occupy it once tenants move out, rent it to us, or sell at any time subject to notice.
• Typically you rent the property directly to Find UK Property as tenant, who then sublet. You are the landlord, letting directly, with no management agent.
• A specific rent is agreed in advance for your property type and paid directly to you.
• The rent is not pooled.
• There is no managing agent and no management fees.
• You retain 100% direct day-to-day management control and can terminate at any time with the required notice.

• Properties are selected with long-term investment in mind
• Every aspect of the process is laid out beforehand in the reservation agreement, eliminating uncertainty
• Properties are recently renovated with guarantees in place to avoid future repair costs and reduce risk
• Rental yields are guaranteed, providing certainty of income
• The process is designed for clients in the South, UK expats and overseas investors who want a hands-off approach, with full support on purchase and management
• It is a total investment solution, not just a property purchase

You rent the property to us and we let to our own tenants. Most people in the North of England live in this type of property — around 60% are owner-occupiers and 40% are renting, mainly from local investors in the same city. Most rental demand sits at the lower end of the market.

We do not let to students. Our tenants are mainly long-term working couples and small families. We normally have waiting lists and no difficulty letting quickly. We manage our tenants well and are a better-than-average landlord, so our properties stay in demand and our average tenancy length is double the industry average.

UK residents. Many living in London and the South now consider low-cost northern houses for investment and long-term pension income, because southern prices are very high and yields much lower. The same property we sell for £81,999 in the North is well over £300,000 in the South. They also value keeping 100% management control while remaining passive investors. Most are busy professionals in or near London, retired or approaching retirement, or first-time buyers who find the North is the only affordable option.

Overseas nationals. Looking to the UK as a secure place for medium to long-term investment, not to immigrate immediately. They usually have some link with the UK — children who may study here, relatives here, or they studied here themselves — and want a complete solution covering purchase, letting, management, rent payment, dealings with UK authorities and possible future resale.

UK expats. UK nationals working or living overseas who want to invest long term in their own country. Some will eventually retire here and may sell an investment property to buy an own-use home; others keep them long term or pass them to their children. Many start with one property and build a small portfolio over the years.

An investment property is designed to deliver good rental yield and capital growth. It should be easy to resell and easy to let, with low running costs, tax efficiency, and less exposure to falls in a recession. In the UK, the lowest-cost smaller properties suit this best.

An own use property is bought on personal criteria — location near family or work, size, garden, the character of the local community. These tend to be in the South, larger, more expensive and poor for investment returns.

A flexible middle route: buy an investment property, and rent an own-use property if and when you need one, using the investment income to pay for it. Particularly useful if your long-term plans are not settled.

Discuss your requirements with us, provide your full ID information, select the type of property you need and receive the draft documents and agreements. You can then decide whether to visit.

Do not rush to purchase, but it is worth getting the information as soon as you can. After a period of price falls and stability, prices are rising again — and once your reservation agreement is signed, your price is fixed.

Start with a short enquiry form

Most of our customers — those from Europe, the Commonwealth, or countries with a UK tax treaty — may qualify for a personal allowance of around £12,570 per person per year, meaning the first £12,570 of UK income is not taxed. That can cover two or three 2-bed houses tax free.

Above that level you pay 20% tax on net rental income after all costs. After purchase we can help with the HMRC Non-Resident Landlord registration so your rent is paid without deduction of tax — the vast majority of our overseas customers are able to do this. If you buy as a couple, the total allowance is doubled.

We are official HMRC Tax Agents and can file your annual returns for you. A filing must be made each year if you own a UK investment property, even if you are below the income threshold.