London agency steers wealthy landlords towards north of England

A London lettings agency is launching a service to enable landlords to invest in mainstream buy to let or Airbnb-style short lets in Liverpool and Manchester.

Portico is setting up Portico Portfolio and says it will include mortgage and tax advice from a partner company, Accounts and Legal.

The service is intended to help landlords or those sitting on savings invest in up-and-coming locations outside London, which offer lower entry costs and higher yields.

Portico claims that compared to London, long-let rental yields in the north are “staggeringly higher” - as much as 13.6 per cent in some cases, with tourism markets also booming for landlords considering Airbnb-style lettings.

Portico Portfolio is open to landlords with investment budgets of £150,000 or more, who must use an investor-owned limited company set up Accounts and Legal.

“Portico Finance can help to arrange commercial financing, (typically 50 per cent loan to value), so £500,000 equity will allow a client to purchase a portfolio of approximately £1m” says a statement from the agency.

The Portico Portfolio team will then source “strategically chosen properties in city centre locations in Liverpool and Manchester.”

Portico then manages the property with Portico Lettings or Portico’s short-let Host services where applicable with the client charged at the end of the month.

Clients are also free to buy or sell properties whenever they like within the company, or can sell or transfer the shares in the company to someone else at any time.

Portico describes itself as “a Professional Co-Host of Airbnb.”