Is London's unaffordable property market set to create a rise in 'rentlords'?

Renting in the capital while owning - and letting out another property that could be hundreds of miles away is not as mad as it may seem, discovers Charlotte Duck

- Charlotte Duck

I wish my flat in London was mine, but I will get there eventually,” says Katie Wilson, 37. She’s one of a new breed of London “rent lords” who rent in the capital while letting out a

property elsewhere in the country. The two-bedroom flat Wilson owns is in her hometown of Nottingham, while she lives in Victoria Park, Hackney. “It’s worked for me because it's an investment for my future.”

Before buying in Mapperley, Nottingham, Wilson had been looking at moving to Margate or shared ownership options in London.

When her sister decided to sell a two-bedroom flat in 2020, Wilson, digital editor for The Boutique Handbook, decided she’d try to buy it. “As a first time buyer, buying a buy-to-let property, I needed a deposit of 25 per cent on the £150,000 price, so that was £37,500, which I managed using savings and some help from my family.”

The Nottingham property is currently let to a long-term tenant who was found via an agent but who now deals directly with Wilson or her parents. “Mum and Dad are down the road from her, and they’re retired and have her number. I’ve been lucky because the flat is less than 10 years old and so not much goes wrong. I haven’t heard from my tenant for ages but I’m in direct contact and, if anything does go wrong, I know it falls to me to pay for it and I have money saved up for that.”