Buying an HMO as an overseas investor: be pessimistic with your numbers

Before the numbers, make sure your managing agent is trustworthy enough to look after an overseas client. I've sold dozens of HMOs to overseas buyers over the years, and too many of them had a poor experience. A wave of investors from Hong Kong bought across the north of England and the Midlands through one-stop shops that packaged the deal and then managed it. The numbers looked fine on paper and fell apart in practice.

Why distance costs you

It's human nature. An agent with 400 rooms might have 25 adverts out and only 20 enquiries. The rooms that stay empty tend to belong to the landlords who live furthest away. The landlord who turns up at the office every week gets his rooms filled first. A passive investor abroad is easy to fob off with "it's quiet at the moment".

Compare that with a landlord I visited recently. He lives in the south, his HMOs are in the North West, and an agent manages them. Every three months he travels up for two days with a maintenance checklist, resealing showers and replacing handles. The tenants and the agent know he's coming, his maintenance costs are lower, and his ten-year-old conversions look two years old.

An overseas investor can't do that, so every small job comes with a call-out charge and a margin on top.

How to make it stack up

• Choose the agent before the deal. Find a managing agent who will treat a remote client properly, then look for HMOs in their patch.
• Be pessimistic with your numbers. Load in higher maintenance, longer voids and call-out costs. On my HMO Analyser, you'd want at least four, ideally five, of the five buyer types to stack up.
• Ask for proof of income. Expect 12 to 18 months of real rent statements, not a spreadsheet telling you what the rent is. Valuers rely on what landlords say about occupancy and voids, and some landlords haven't told the truth until the figures were tested in the sale.

There's no bad question when it comes to due diligence.

Quick answers

Can overseas investors buy HMOs in the UK?

Yes, but distance raises running costs and makes you easier to neglect. Choose a trustworthy managing agent first, be pessimistic with voids and maintenance, and insist on 12 to 18 months of real rent evidence.

Should I ask an HMO seller for proof of rent?

Always. Expect at least 12 to 18 months of rent statements rather than a spreadsheet of expected rents.

From my answers on the HMO X Weekly Community Call, October 2026. Figures are illustrative and reflect my experience at the time; they're not financial, legal or tax advice, or a RICS valuation.