The places where you can flip houses and earn money

We identify the hotspots where you can still turn a profit from home flipping and ndash

Over the past ten years, fewer homes have been purchased, renovated, and quickly sold, but if you know where to buy, you can still make money.

House flipping is the practice of buying cheaply and selling it for a profit. According to Hamptons, between 2016 and 2025, the number of properties flipped within a year fell by half, from 21,520 to just 10,570.

The property agent attributed the decline primarily to declining house prices in some areas and an increase in stamp duty on second-hand properties.

Problems with BFIA today. London experienced the largest decline in flips as a percentage of all housing transactions; in 2015, 2.1% of all transactions were flipped, but by 2025, that number had dropped to just 0.9%.

Current Videos From IMG During the same time period, this percentage fell from 2 percent to 1 percent in the East of England, and from 2.6 percent to 1.8 percent in Yorkshire, the Humber, and the South East.

Here is all the information you need to understand why flipping is becoming less popular, whether there are any flipping hotspots where profits can still be made, and what other options are available to real estate investors hoping to make money.

The hotspots for flipping where investors can still make money.

According to Hamptons analysis, the North East is the only UK region that has defied the declining trend in flipping over the past ten years.

After subtracting stamp duty expenses, the study reveals that gross profits on flipped homes there increased by 27 percent between 2015 and 2025, from 13,450 to 17,080.

Hartlepool saw the largest increase in profits in the region, rising by 148 percent between 2015 and 2025.

Additionally, post-stamp duty land tax (SDLT) profits increased by 70% in Middlesbrough, 111% in South Tyneside, and 141% in Redcar and Cleveland.

The general manager of Cornerplot Properties, a North East England-based property development company, Dr. Andrew Threadgold, echoed Hamptons' findings, pointing out Middlesbrough as one area that has been a flipping hotspot for a while. Additionally, he claimed that South Wales had proven profitable, especially in places like Pembrokeshire and the Valleys, where he claimed that home prices had skyrocketed.

Hamptons and Land Registry are credited.

Why aren't more properties being sold?

Flipping houses entails purchasing a property and swiftly selling it for a profit.

Investors typically purchase dilapidated properties, renovate them, and then sell them. Some investors just purchase homes at a discount and sell them right away to make money.

Flipping used to be thought of as a risk worth taking. The trend peaked in the Hamptons in 2007, when 52,950 properties, or 3.7% of all homes sold in England and Wales, had been bought within the previous 12 months.

However, profits have been impacted by the 3 percent stamp duty surcharge on second homes that was implemented in 2016 and raised to 5 percent in October 2024.

Hamptons research indicates that since 2016, gross profitsthe difference between a home's original and resale prices after stamp duty is subtractedhave decreased dramatically.

The average post-SDLT gross profit on a flipped property was 36,500 in 2015, just a year before then-chancellor George Osborne introduced the second home surcharge. This decreased to 16,390 by 2025.

According to Hamptons, this indicates that only a small percentage of flipped properties are currently turning a profit before refurbishment expenses are taken into account.

"Flipping is no longer the profitable venture it once was," according to Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, because of the second home stamp duty surcharge.

She went on to say that investors' profits had been further damaged by declining home prices throughout southern England as well as increased labor and material costs since the pandemic.

Beveridge clarified, "Refurbishment budgets now stretch much further than they once did, pushing profit margins to their thinnest levels in over a decade, even before factoring in stamp duty."

A perfect storm for developers to flip houses.

Although the market was under a lot of pressure, Threadgold claimed he was still able to flip houses in South Wales, Warwickshire, and the North East.

He claimed that a number of other factors, including the implementation of the stamp duty surcharge, had produced the "perfect storm" for developers wishing to flip properties.

According to Threadgold, increased red tape following Brexit has made it more difficult to find skilled workers, and the increase in the National Minimum Wage has raised labor costs.

He specifically emphasized how the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath have resulted in sharp increases in the price of materials like plaster and wood, which have put tremendous strain on developers.

"Over the past four or five years, every aspect of building or remodeling a property has increased significantly. The amount that prices have increased is unbelievable," he remarked.

He went on to say that rising costs were being caused by higher interest rates on bridging loans, which many developers use, as well as an increase in solicitor fees.

How does this affect the housing market?

According to property market expert Kate Faulkner, any declines since 2016 wouldn't have a significant effect on the overall housing market because the percentage of transactions involving flipped homes was so low (2.4%).

In fact, she claimed that instead of purchasing from developers who would commission the work and then add a premium on top, it gave homebuyers more freedom to remodel homes themselves.

She did, however, note that fewer developers flipping properties might make it more difficult for sellers to move because there would be fewer buyers.

In what other ways can you profit from real estate?

If you're still interested in making money in the real estate market but flipping isn't for you, you have other options. There are two primary options, according to experts.

Purchase-to-let.

According to Sam Hadfield, managing director of the real estate investment firm BuyAssociation, buy-to-let landlords can still make money despite having to deal with higher taxes and mortgage rates.

He cited growing rents as one factor that keeps landlords profitable in the industry. According to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), average monthly private rent in the UK rose by 3.4% to 1,377 in the 12 months ending in March 2026.

"Over the past ten years, there has likely been a cultural shift in the UK, where I think our younger working population is very happy to rent," Hadfield remarked.

According to Hadfield, BTL landlords have a great chance of purchasing real estate in rural areas like Manchester and Birmingham, where the population is expanding and renters are "very happy."

"I would say flipping it at the end is not the strategy, but if you can develop that house, it's probably still sensible to do that and add some value to it," he clarified. Tenanting it, keeping it, and developing your portfolio would be the goal. A "

Consult your local government.

According to Faulkner, another choice is to see if you can lease your property to the local government.

This can result in fewer void periods while giving your community's needy residents access to social housing. You will have less work because some councils act as the tenant's agent, handling daily correspondence.

However, if you lease a property to your council, you might not have as much control over rent amounts or tenant selection.

For instance, Waltham Forest Council in North-East London provides private landlords who lease their properties with cash incentives of up to £10,000 and pays for yearly insurance against tenant damage and rent loss.