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“We’re in Burnley now, a hotspot for investment, with landlords taking home an annual rental yield of 7 per cent.” So opened episode 23 of Homes Under the Hammer, broadcast this week, a BBC show that follows buyers who purchase rundown homes at auction and renovate them, either to flip for a profit, or to rent out. In a testament to Britain’s enduring fascination with property investment, the show is in its 27th series.
「我們現在在伯恩利，這是一個投資熱點，房東每年可以獲得7%的租金收益。」本週播出的BBC節目《錘子下的家園》(Homes Under the Hammer)第23集如此開場。該節目追蹤購買拍賣會上破舊房屋並進行翻新的買家，他們要麼翻轉獲利，要麼出租。作爲對英國對房地產投資持久著迷的證明，該節目已經播出了第27季。
Once renovated, the three-bed semi will rent for £650 per calendar month, the estate agent says. It sells for £78,000 to brothers Charlie and Harry from London (with 20 properties already under their belt), who plan to put it straight out to rent after a four-week renovation that cost less than £10,000. Spoiler: they do it in three weeks and achieve an 8 per cent yield.
房產中介表示，這套三居室半獨立式住宅翻新後，每月租金將爲650英鎊。查理和哈里兩兄弟（來自倫敦，已擁有20處房產）以78,000英鎊購得此房，計劃在花費不到10,000英鎊進行爲期四周的翻新後立即出租。劇透：他們實際上在三週內完成了翻新，並實現了8%的收益率。
Sounds easy, right? Anyone with a reasonable chunk of money to invest ought to consider getting into the landlord game. Not so fast, though: the Burnley developers may have done well — but the town is in a sweet spot, where the figures for buy-to-let still add up.
聽起來很容易，對吧？任何有一大筆錢要投資的人都應該考慮進入房東行當。但別急：伯恩利的開發商可能做得不錯——但這個城鎮正處於一個甜蜜點，買房出租的數據仍然合理。
Across much of the rest of the UK, investors face big mortgage interest bills and much lower yields. The broader picture for the sector is far less rosy — and some think there are even worse conditions coming down the track.
在英國其他大部分地區，投資者面臨著高額的抵押貸款利息支出和較低的收益率。該行業的總體情況遠不如人意，有些人認爲未來的情況可能會更糟。
Margins are lower and regulations are tougher. Jonathan Gittos at fintech mortgage broker Porthos & Co says: “Many think their nest egg has cracked. Most are gradually paying off existing loans, moving back into properties themselves or even selling.”
利潤率更低，監管更嚴格。金融科技抵押貸款經紀公司Porthos & Co的喬納森•吉託斯(Jonathan Gittos)表示：「許多人認爲他們的儲備金已經破裂。大多數人正在逐步還清現有貸款，自己搬回房產，甚至出售房產。」
Hamptons, an estate agent, this week released research showing that landlords purchased just one in 10 of all homes sold across Great Britain during the first half of this year, the lowest share since records began in 2010. The firm says high mortgage rates mean new buy-to-let investors are increasingly focusing on the highest-yielding areas to make the sums stack up.
房地產中介公司漢普頓斯(Hamptons)本週發佈的研究報告顯示，今年上半年在英國售出的所有房屋中，房東僅購買了十分之一，這是自2010年有記錄以來的最低比例。該公司指出，由於抵押貸款利率較高，新的購房出租投資者越來越傾向於選擇收益率最高的地區，以確保投資收益。
Six of the 10 local authorities with the highest share of buy-to-let purchases are in the north of England. Sunderland tops the list, where 45 per cent of homes were bought by an investor during the first half of the year. Swindon, Enfield and Torbay are the only southern local authorities to make the top 10 list.
在買房出租比例最高的10個地方政府中，6個位於英格蘭北部，其中桑德蘭位居榜首，今年上半年有45%的房屋被投資者購買。斯溫登、恩菲爾德和托爾貝是唯一進入前十名的南部地方政府。
Meanwhile, a new report from UK Finance found lending to landlords is significantly down — with the number of new loans in the first quarter of the year, at 12,400, less than half those granted in the last three months of 2022.
與此同時，英國財政(UK Finance)的一份新報告發現，向房東的貸款大幅下降——今年第一季度的新貸款數量爲12,400筆，不到2022年最後三個月批准的一半。
Disincentives to invest have been compounded more recently by higher interest rates and political uncertainty around the threat of more rental reform
最近，更高的利率和圍繞更多租賃改革威脅的政治不確定性進一步加劇了投資的不利因素
In fact, the buy-to-let mortgage market shrank for the first time, down 3 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of 2024 to 1.98mn outstanding loans.
事實上，買房出租抵押貸款市場在2024年前三個月首次出現萎縮，同比下降3%，未償還貸款減少至198萬筆。
The upward march of rental incomes seems relentless — ONS data this year pointed to some of the highest annual rental increases since 2015, especially in London. On the face of it, that spells opportunity.
租金收入的不斷上漲似乎勢不可擋——英國國家統計局(ONS)今年的數據顯示，自2015年以來，尤其是在倫敦，年度租金漲幅達到了歷史新高。從表面上看，這似乎是一個機會。
But that’s because landlords are still selling more properties than they’re buying, which is reducing the number of homes available to rent. This trend has held in each year since 2016, when the 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on second home purchases was introduced. A year later, the ability of individual landlords to offset mortgage payments against tax bills began to be phased out. These changes increased the cost of purchasing an investment property and reduced the profitability of many existing mortgaged buy-to-lets.
但這是因爲房東出售的房產數量仍然多於他們購買的數量，這導致了可供出租的房屋數量減少。自2016年對購買第二套住房徵收3%的印花稅附加費以來，這一趨勢每年都在持續。一年後，個人房東抵扣按揭付款的稅收優惠開始逐步取消。這些變化增加了購買投資性房產的成本，並降低了許多現有按揭購房出租的盈利能力。
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at estate agent Hamptons, says: “Tax and regulatory changes introduced since 2016 have been the main culprit, but these disincentives to invest have been compounded more recently by higher interest rates and political uncertainty around the threat of more rental reform.”
漢普頓斯的研究主管阿內莎•貝弗裏奇表示：「自2016年以來引入的稅收和監管變化是主要原因，但最近更高的利率和圍繞租賃改革威脅的政治不確定性使投資的冷淡情緒更加嚴重。」
That episode of Homes Under the Hammer was recorded in July 2022. Since then interest rates have risen. Inflation has meanwhile increased the pain of repairs and replacements. Plus, the renters’ rights bill was finally announced in the King’s Speech last week, including measures to protect tenants from unscrupulous private landlords and abolish the “no fault” arrangement for evicting tenants.
這期《錘子下的家園》節目錄制於2022年7月。從那時起，利率一直在上升。同時，通貨膨脹加劇了維修和更換的成本。此外，上週國王的演講中終於宣佈了租戶權利法案，其中包括保護租戶免受不良私人房東的侵害，並廢除了對租戶的「無過錯」驅逐安排。
The Conservatives had been lining the legislation up, but some landlords fear Labour will press ahead without providing resources for the already log-jammed courts system. Plus, there are fears that Labour will put up capital gains tax rates on property sales.
保守黨一直在推動這項立法，但一些房東擔心工黨將在不爲已經積壓的法院系統提供資源的情況下繼續推進。此外，還有擔憂認爲工黨可能會提高房產銷售的資本利得稅率。
London is leading the rise in private renting across England, due to high house prices and, more recently, higher mortgage costs: The Mortgage Works, the buy-to-let lending arm of Nationwide, found close to one in three (30 per cent) households opt to rent privately in the capital, nearly double the rest of England.
由於高房價和最近抵押貸款成本的上升，倫敦正在引領英格蘭私人租賃市場的成長：全國抵押貸款協會(Nationwide)旗下的買房出租貸款部門The Mortgage Works發現，在首都有近三分之一（30%）的家庭選擇私人租賃，這一比例幾乎是英格蘭其他地區的兩倍。
But given the financial pressures faced by renters — and the real prospect they will hit their ceiling of affordability — buy-to-let is a precarious source of income for landlords.
但鑑於租戶面臨的財務壓力，以及他們可能觸及支付能力上限的真實可能性，對房東而言，買來出租是一種不穩定的收入來源。
The average tenant spends more than a third of their monthly wage on rental payments, and one in five spends over half, according to rental services provider Canopy. But insurance broker Lifesearch found 74 per cent of renters are without the safety net of income protection, insurance that can cover their essential outgoings if they are unable to work through sickness, injury or redundancy. That’s a missing vital assurance for landlords, which would otherwise ensure consistent rental income even in times of tenant hardship.
根據租房服務提供商Canopy的數據，租戶平均每月要花費超過三分之一的工資支付租金，其中五分之一的租戶支付超過一半。但保險經紀公司Lifesearch發現，74%的租戶沒有收入保障保險，這種保險能在租戶因病、傷或被裁員而無法工作時支付其必要開支。這對房東來說是一個缺失的重要保障，本可以在租戶經濟困難時保證穩定的租金收入。
If you’re a professional landlord who can diversify between properties, regions and tenants, the sector may feel less risky.
如果您是一位能夠在不同物業、地區和租戶之間進行多元化經營的專業房東，這個行業的風險可能會顯得較低。
But for many, buy-to-let had become the British dream, with individuals using property as their retirement portfolio. So a third of landlords only have one property, many of whom are probably relying on the income for their “pension”.
但對許多人來說，買房出租已成爲英國人的夢想，他們將房產作爲退休投資組合。因此，三分之一的房東只有一套房產，其中許多人可能依賴這筆收入作爲他們的「養老金」。
Faced with an increased workload, lower margins and uncertainty about whether they can continue to make decent money despite the increase in rents, many will be wondering why they should bother.
面對工作量增加、利潤下降以及租金上漲後是否能繼續賺取體面收入的不確定性，許多人會思考，爲什麼還要繼續努力呢？
There are still attractive lower-risk and lower-effort options for their money — more than 5 per cent in a savings account, for example.
對於他們的資金來說，仍然存在一些低風險、低投入且具有吸引力的選擇——例如，儲蓄賬戶中超過5%的利率。
The top rates are 5.2 per cent on an easy access Isa with Trading 212 or 5.37 per cent on a 95-day notice account with OakNorth Bank. Savings accounts with Principality Building Society and First Direct (existing customers only) pay 8 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.
易存取ISA賬戶的最高利率爲5.2%，由Trading 212提供；95天通知賬戶的最高利率爲5.37%，由OakNorth Bank提供。Principality Building Society和First Direct（僅限現有客戶）的儲蓄賬戶分別支付8%和7%的利率。
For those who can stomach more risk, a portfolio of shares and funds is a good home for a property sale lump sum. Porthos says: “They really should be thinking about Isas and unit trusts.”
對於那些能夠承受更多風險的人來說，股票和基金組成的投資組合是房產銷售一次性款項的好去處。Porthos表示：「他們真的應該考慮Isas和單位信托基金。」
With the future looking bleak for both tenants and landlords, it’s time to put big warnings on property programmes that don’t represent reality, given tax changes and falling yields. “Savings under the Scanner” might not be so watchable, but it’s less of a fantasy for those who aren’t professionals like Charlie and Harry.
鑑於稅收變化和收益率下降，租戶和房東的前景都顯得黯淡，是時候在那些不符合現實的房地產節目上加上重要警告了。《掃描下的儲蓄》可能不那麼吸引人，但對於像查理和哈里這樣的非專業人士來說，它更接近現實，而不是幻想。
Moira O’Neill is a freelance money and investment writer. Email moira.o’neill@ft.com, X: @MoiraONeill, Instagram @MoiraOnMoney