Infamous buy to let guru Fergus Wilson admits that at one time he and his wife Judith owed £350,000 a month in interest payments.
That was in the early stages of the financial crisis, in 2008/9, when the couple were ready to retire but decided to stay on to until the downturn ended. We always used to factor 10 per cent of late payers into our model but then in October 2008, 39 per cent of tenants couldn't pay. It was unprecedented, he told the Financial Times.
He admits that at the turn of the millennium the housing market was like the wild west with mortgages easy to come buy. Nobody will ever make money like we did from 1995 to 2014. I could get a 90 per cent loan to value mortgage back then. Now, it's more like 60 to 70 per cent, he says.
Wilson says the value of properties he bought in 1995 have gone up by about 350 per cent, although capital gains tax will have to be paid when he does sell his assets.
Last month Wilson, 65, was ordered to pay £1,650 including £150 compensation to Daniel Wells, 31, an agent in the Folkestone office of PLS (Property Lettings and Sales). Wilson is appealling against the decision.
The Wilsons are reported to have a property portfolio worth up to £200m, mostly achieved through buy-to-let investments. Some 280 of those properties were managed by PLS until late in 2012 and during 2013, when the professional relationship ended.
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