The so-called King and Queen of Buy To Let, the controversial husband and wife team of Fergus and Judith Wilson, are reported to be worth some £140m.
Insider Media publishes an annual Rich List of wealthy individuals based in the south east of England and puts the Wilsons at number 28.
The list entry says: “The Wilsons became known as the king and queen of buy to let. The husband and wife team built up a portfolio of nearly 1,000 properties in Kent at their peak. In 2016 the pair announced the sale of half of the houses for around £125m – with 350 being snapped up by foreign buyers and another 50 by tenants.
“The Wilsons are believed to have owed around £40 to £45m on their estate before the sale. They announced earlier in 2019 that they are selling the remaining 300 properties of their portfolio for around £90m. After tax on the sales, the pair should be left with around £140m.”
Over many years Letting Agent Today has chronicled the varied views and exploits of the Wilsons.
A year ago Fergus Wilson told LAT that any landlord taking tenants with children should be given a one per cent discount per tenancy year on Capital Gains Tax for that specific property, while in 2018 Judith Wilson was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay almost £15,000 costs for failing to comply with an enforcement notice ordering her to supply hot water to a disabled tenant.
In 2017 – following controversal comments about food smells in properties occupied by some tenants – images of Fergus Wilson were posted close to some of his properties in Kent carrying allegations of racism.
Two years earlier, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he allegedly said he was raising some of his rents by 33 per cent and blamed then-Chancellor George Osborne for reducing the amount of top-end tax that could be offset against mortgage interest.
