Entrepreneur may pull plug on open market buy-to-let
Friday 11th February 2011, 1:00PM GMT.
AN ENTREPRENEUR is considering giving up a £100,000 deposit on a Guernsey house because of uncertainty over what will happen to the open market.
PR company owner Gordon Beattie (pictured) said he was planning to buy properties in Guernsey, improve them and rent them out to executives. But he is now rethinking his plan.
‘Unfortunately, I may be forced to cancel my investment plans because of fears that the States review for managing Guernsey’s population could result in restrictions being imposed on who can live in open market homes,’ said Mr Beattie.
‘I have already paid a 10% deposit on a house in St Martin’s but it may be better to lose that than find I have bought a house which I can’t rent out in the future.’
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His loss.
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I’m not quite sure what the point of this story is.
- If it’s to make us aware of the population review and the possible threat to the Open Market, we already know.
- If it’s to enlighten us that an investor is worried that they may have found a bum deal, that’s hardly newsworthy. Besides, in the unlikely event that the law does dramatically change he will still be able to rent it out – it’s not like he’ll be sitting on an empty house. OK it will take him considerably longer to recoup his investment but as any investor knows, you win some you lose some.
- If it’s an effort to get some sympathy, forget it – after reading yesterday that rising house prices are making it even more difficult for first time buyers to get on the ladder, I’m afraid he’s come to the wrong place. If Mr Beattie can afford to just drop a £100,000 deposit I’m sure he can afford to take the risk and buy that one property.
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My heart bleeds for him:(
Apart from anything else why does he think anyone is in the slightest bit interested in his financial dealings?.
But just incase people are interested i lost a few quid on the stock market last month.
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Who cares / so what….probably just another English person from the mainland with too much money on his hands.
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If he can afford to lose his deposit ( and who cares ) so be it.
Should we not be thinking of the first time buyers
( local Guernsey people ) who are finding it very difficult to buy on this island. And not what the fat cats are losing after all they can afford it if they couldnt afford it they would not be on the island buying more property.
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I lost a fiver last week
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As with the post on house prices, the implications of the article are more than one man losing his deposit.
If people are no longer confident to buy open market property, a lot of inward investment to Guersey will vanish. Local tradesmen who are now able to charge high hourly rates due to the demand for their services will find there’s a lot less work around.
This one gentleman was planning to buy multiple properties, improve them and rent them out. If there are no rental properties in the open market, where will high level non-local business people without a licence live? If they can’t rent here and don’t wish to buy, they won’t come here. They won’t pay taxes here, won’t spend here, and won’t generate profits for the locally registered companies that they work for.
The companies that they work for may decide that it would be better to re-locate to somewhere that their senior staff can live and work.
Many working in non-financial areas will think that’s a good thing. Your local scaffolder, electrician, plumber, butcher, gardner etc will probably be quite happy. Except of course all of these people are potential customers, or employ their customers.
Living in a small economy like Guernsey (or any economy) we are all linked. We all rely on each other to a degree. Take away one source of income to the island and it inevitably reduces others source of income. Unfortunately not many think about much more than their own circumstances, or don’t think at all.
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Well said Mrs Pen.
I can just about cover my mortgage each month let alone put food on the table and that is working 2 jobs.
Who cares about poor little rich non local coming over to increase the cost of property and living. My heart bleeds that he wont be able to buy properties and do them up and then rent them out, this is not a monopoly board.
Sort this out and lets ensure that the property is affordable and within the reach of the locals. I have my house and have had for over ten years and can only sympathise with the first time buyers today.
Lets start these restrictions now for all non-locals!
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Well said George.Spot on
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George
You make some good points. But this is one mans take on things regarding his investment plans, others may see it the same way but there will be many others that won`t. There are times when a bit of uncertainty can be good?.
I would`nt worry to much about it myself.
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another rich englishman fears he can’t make money out property? My heart bleeds purple puss!!
‘investment plans’ Don’t fall for it, it’s spare cash thrown into property to make a turn.
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I can understand some of the comments about 1st time buyers, but without these people investing (and assuming they use LOCAL labour) the construction industry will suffer.
Being in the industry I have already seen the affect this uncertainty is causing, why won’t the States come out and publicly state that the Open Market is not going to change before they do any more lasting damage and locals strart losing their jobs because of it.
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I agree bcb – this story is about one man who isn’t prepared to take a risk on local property.
I’m pretty sure another will as that’s the nature of entrepreneurial business. It all depends on how much risk someone is prepared to take.
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To bring business here we have to work to lower the risk premium and to make this as a safe and secure place to do business as possible. That means putting in place measures to protect investors, and make tough decisions to protect property rights. The GP is right to flag this as a symptom of policy failure that needs urgent redress.
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But the property is still there.
It’ll be sold or let, with or without him, with or without the Open Market.
Seems to me that if the OM goes, and there is a free for all, then his investment may even be worth more in the longer run, particularly if he was going for a quality product.
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I wonder if its a Guernsey thing, but it seems for the most part a lot of judgement is being made here simply, because this man has more money that all of you!!!
But this is something to read, simply because it shows some loss of confidence in the local market, ofc its not a major news article – but this is a small island, what else are we going to read about?
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FYI I lost two quid last week speculating on scratch cards. Can I have a sob story in the paper please? Also I can’t actually afford a deposit on a mortgage atm so it rankles that some guy goes in the paper to say he can loose his £100,000 deposit no problem. that’s a total kick in the teeth to all us hard working scmucks here in gsy. I personally don’t care about his investment and POSSIBLE change in gsy law that MAY affect his house. boo hoo
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