Introduction
According to a 2025 survey by buy to let lender Together, a number of UK landlords and property developers are not fully aware of overall financial costs or resulting benefits when planning property renovation or repairs to their housing portfolio. This can impact on the overall profitability when selling a developed property or taking into account profit margins from rental income.
Overspending on Improvements
19% of those surveyed found they had overspent on housing improvements when estimating how much renovations would increase the overall value of their property or the increase in rental value improvements could achieve. Landlords and developers are advised to take a cost efficient approach to improvements and renovations and avoid overspending by taking a profit first mindset when selecting and pricing up specifications for improvements. A potential trap many landlords and developers fall into is selecting the highest possible and most expensive specifications for improvements, believing these will automatically create the highest property resale value or rental yields. However, cost efficient selections need to be made for renovations and a full cost benefit analysis may reveal that modest and lower cost specifications are needed to maximise returns when properties are at the lower end of the market.
Underestimating Repair and Maintenance Costs
The survey also revealed 18% of landlords underestimate the amount of wear and tear tenants can cause to their properties and 16% were unaware of the overall costs of maintenance and repair activities. A lack of planning and factoring in costs of property maintenance and repairs over a number of years can impact on overall long term income achieved from properties.
The most expensive costs for landlords include roofing repairs (£906 average), replacing large kitchen appliances (£807) and carpets and flooring (£757). Other common issues that came with high costs include boiler and heating repairs, broken windows, electrical work and addressing mould, which all average a cost of between £600 and £700 to fix.
It is advised that landlords carry out regular inspections on their properties to identify and fix problems when they are smaller, rather than when they become bigger and more expensive to fix. Also, taking out insurance with the most comprehensive coverage can reduce costs of commonly occurring issues in property rentals.
Funding Available For Development and Renovation
Businesses, landlords and property developers looking to update properties by carrying out renovation and maintenance activities can seek financial support in the form of grants and loans from local authorities. Council funding priorities include making sure existing inhabited properties are up to decent livable standards, empty homes can be renovated so that people may move in and long term empty commercial premises can be converted to residential units.
Loans are often offered for larger development projects involving renovation or development of multiple dwellings, and in some cases these loans are offered interest free. Grants are usually offered for smaller projects with specific purposes such as empty home improvements or grants for landlords.
Here Is A Selection Of The Latest Property Development Funding Schemes
i) Grants for Empty Commercial Properties
Brent Council is providing grants for the owners of empty commercial properties in the local area to convert them into residential units. Funding up to £156,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
ii) Private Landlord Home Improvement Grant
Royal Borough of Greenwich Council is providing grants for the owners of empty residential properties to repair and refurbish their properties and bring them back into use. Grants of up to £15,000 are available for each house or flat and grants of up to £50,000 are available for properties that are to be let as a House in Multiple Occupation.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
iii) Stalled Sites Fund
East Sussex County Council is providing grant funding to support feasibility studies, site investigations, pre-planning and business case development to support the case for commercial sites that have remained undeveloped for over twelve months to help raise finance to further continue property development activities. Funding up to £25,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
iv) Grants for Landlords
Ribble Valley Borough Council is providing grants for landlords to renovate their homes to make them fit for occupation, or to convert premises into accommodation for rent. Funding up to £20,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
v) Empty Properties Funding
Dumfries and Galloway Council is providing a scheme where private landlords can access grant funding towards the cost of works required to bring their empty properties back into use. Funding up to £20,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
vi) Empty Property Loans
Bristol City Council, in partnership with Wessex Resolutions CIC is providing loans for the owners of empty properties to improve and repair their properties and bring them back into residential use. Funding up to £60,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
vii) Town Centre Loan Fund
Swansea Council is providing interest free loans for the owners or potential future owners of town centre properties (residential, leisure and retail) for the purpose of reducing the number of vacant, under utilised and redundant sites and premises in local town centres by carrying out renovations and refurbishment activities. Funding up to £1 million is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
viii) Empty Properties Loans
Wrexham County Borough Council is running a scheme backed by the Welsh Government to provide interest free loans for the owners of empty properties in the local area to fund renovation of those properties to bring them back into residential use. Funding up to £250,000 is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are invited on an ongoing basis
How To Apply For Property Development Schemes
Full details about how to apply for schemes and the eligibility criteria is available on each individual scheme page on the relevant website. Any deadlines, who can apply and what eligible costs the grants or loans will cover will also be outlined on these pages. Interested businesses can speak to funding advisors based at each provider who can guide them through requirements and eligibility criteria to see if the relevant funding is a match with their needs and help them to apply. There are also application forms and other supporting guidance available on scheme pages as well.
Want To Find More UK Property Development Funding Opportunities?
If you want to see the full set of UK property development funding currently available, please visit https://getbusinessgrants.com/