London, 20 August 2020: Despite the challenges COVID-19 is presenting to the UK’s outlook, UBL UK has cemented their commitment to the Residential Real Estate space, growing their portfolio of lending to professional landlords by 9.6% in the second quarter of 2020.
Brian Firth, UBL UK’s CEO comments, ‘despite the many challenges presented by COVID-19, UBL UK remain committed to supporting professional landlords navigate the changing landscape and the Bank has continued to see heightened demand from this segment of the market. We welcome the Chancellor’s recent announcement in his July 2020 statement, increasing the Stamp Duty Land Tax threshold on property purchased in England and Northern Ireland to £500k from 8th July 2020 until March 2021. UBL UK has seen a further step up in demand from professional landlords since this announcement underpinning demand in the face of challenging economic conditions.’
He continues, ‘we have seen the announcement as positive for both buyers and sellers in a number of ways. Buyers of properties for their main residence of £575,000 will realise savings of £15,000 on Stamp Duty Land Tax* helping them to secure funding and meet asking prices with more confidence, whilst sellers are likely to see a stabilisation and potential strengthening of property prices. There has been pent up demand in the housing market and we have seen in the weeks since the announcement that demand has started to translate to transactions.’
Zeeshan Haider, UBL UK’s Chief Business Officer adds, ‘with the announcement also applying to buy to let property purchases, there are benefits to professional and incidental landlords. Whilst Buy To Let Surcharges will remain, a purchase of £500,000 before the March 2021 cut-off will realise £15,000 in Stamp Duty Land Tax savings* compared to pre-8th July 2020 transactions, when adding to a property portfolio or buying a second property for the purpose of letting it to third party residential tenants.’
He continues, ‘in addition to these benefits, now would appear to be an advantageous opportunity for professional landlords to convert portfolios into a lettings business under a company structure. The announcements mean savings can be realised in transferring title to the new structure compared to pre-8th July 2020 transfers, enabling the new Company structure to then apply tax relief on mortgage interest. As transfers must be complete before the deadline, acting sooner rather than later will enable portfolio landlords to optimise their portfolio structures.’
UBL UK offers a range of ethical Islamic savings accounts, as well as conventional savings products that serve the needs of UK savers looking for a bank that shares their values. The Bank uses these deposits to support the funding of professional landlords by providing a range of Islamic Buy To Let Agreements and Residential Real Estate lending facilities. The Bank does not take a ‘computer says no’ approach, and provides bespoke underwriting and a dedicated Community Relationship Manager to every customer.