Thanks for your quick response. You've been so very patient!
Yes I see my mistake. You said that the yield increases over time because rents go up but of course the yield is calculated on the original purchase price not the current market value of the property. Would you say that rent prices are pretty much following the property value increase over time? IE rents go up by the same % as the property value or do they outstrip even that?
No problem, happy to help!
You like the impossible questions don't you? Look at it this way:
1) A standard landlord would set their return rate depending on the value of the property that they purchased and the amount that they pay back to the banks (through interest rates set over and above the Bank of England base rate / LIBOR). We don't have to do this and are much more free / unaffected by interest rate rises. Individual Landlords would be free to accept the return rate that they see fit and the market price / return could be very much competitor dependent.
2) Each year we would still look for the same return. For example, if we purchased property in Year 1 we would be looking for gross returns (obviously as high as possible) but lets say 15%. In year 25 we would still be looking for the same return (or higher - market dependent). Obviously by year 25 the return rate on the year 1 property would be huge as it would be commanding the same rents as the property purchased in year 25 but the purchase price would be significantly smaller (like for like).
3) Like Bitcoin property prices go through steep rises in price and sudden falls in price however, this is usually over a much longer time frame and is therefore not volatile in the same respect. Rent prices tend to increase with property prices but not necessarily with the falls in price.
In answer to your question, rent prices do tend to go up with property prices and they can also outstrip this.