Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins

Residential and commercial property may both involve bricks and mortar — but they’re completely different businesses.

In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly what separates residential and commercial investment: how they’re valued, financed, taxed and managed, and why switching from one to the other means changing the way you think about property altogether.

If you’ve ever thought “I want to invest commercially, but I’m not sure what’s different,” this episode will make it crystal clear.

The Fundamentals

• The difference between letting to people versus businesses

• How lease length, responsibilities and vacancy risk change between the two
  

How Value is Determined

• Comparable-based versus income-based valuations

• How yield directly drives commercial value
  

Funding & Finance

• Why residential lenders assess you, but commercial lenders assess the deal

• Typical LTVs, interest rates and how I approach financing strategy
  

UK Property Transaction Taxes (2025 Update)

• SDLT in England & Northern Ireland

• LBTT in Scotland

• LTT in Wales

• The abolition of MDR in England/NI and how the commercial rates compare
  

Residential Licensing Fees

• Mandatory, Additional & Selective Licensing explained

• Typical costs, penalties, and how commercial avoids these completely
  

The Mindset Shift

• Why successful investors act like CEOs, not landlords

  How I build systems that let my portfolio run without me doing every task

• Residential property is heavily regulated and hands-on.

• Commercial property focuses on contracted income and long-term value growth.

• MDR is gone in England & NI but still available in Scotland and Wales.

• Six or more residential units usually qualify for commercial rates.

• There’s no licensing requirement for commercial — saving thousands in fees.

• To succeed, you need to think like a CEO, not a landlord.

  
  

  🔗 Resources I Mention

• Free guide: How to Find the Right Location to Invest In

• Quiz: What Commercial Property Should You Buy Next?

• Book a call: ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall

I hear this all the time — “I’d love to do more in commercial property, but I don’t have enough time. I’ve got a full-time job, or I’m already managing a big residential portfolio.”

The truth is, if you don’t have enough time, it’s because you’re still trying to do everything yourself.

Commercial property is a business, and you have to start running it like one.

In this episode, I’m sharing how I approach my portfolio like a CEO — building systems, delegating, and budgeting properly so the business runs smoothly without me doing every task.

I’ll also show you how I find property like a CEO. You don’t need to be sourcing deals every month — I plan my acquisitions over 12 to 18 months, schedule each stage, and make sure every purchase fits the long-term strategy.

When you put the right systems in place, you create time and space to think clearly, make better decisions, and actually enjoy the process.

If you want to run your portfolio like a business and get your time back, book a call with me at ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall.

You’ve listed the property, the board’s up, the agent’s optimistic… and yet, silence. No enquiries. No viewings. Nothing. It’s one of the most frustrating moments for any commercial property investor, because an empty property doesn’t just cost you rent, it costs you momentum.

This week, I’m sharing what to do when your property’s not letting – including the short-term tweaks you can make this week to get attention, and the longer-term strategy shifts that’ll stop it happening again.

We start with the government’s announcement about a so-called “homebuying shake-up”, which promises to make transactions cheaper and quicker. But in reality, it’s just shifting who pays for what – sellers will now front the cost of searches and surveys, while lenders and conveyancers continue to move at the same slow pace. If we really wanted to make property transactions faster, we’d create one live data room with all searches, title documents and reports in one place, so everyone works from the same information. That’s what we do in commercial, and it’s why our deals move faster.

Then we get into the main topic: what to do when your property just won’t let. If you’re not getting any bites, the market’s telling you something needs to change. I’ll walk you through the short-term steps that make a difference right now – refreshing your listing, improving presentation, motivating your agents, and adjusting your incentives – as well as the long-term strategies that prevent repeated voids, like designing flexible layouts, lining up a letting plan before completion, and building momentum across your portfolio.

Empty units happen to everyone, but the key is to act fast and stay visible. Let properties, let property.

Listen now at ncrealestate.co.uk/podcast or book a call with my team at ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall.

I don’t know about you, but I get so frustrated waiting for those search emails to land in my inbox. By the time they do, everyone else has already seen the deal.

So this week, I decided to flip the script. I gave myself 15 minutes to go out and actually find a property. No waiting, no alerts — just me setting some quick criteria, jumping on the portals, and running the numbers.

In this episode, I take you through that exact process — and by the end, I had a real live property in Frome that came in at over 8% gross yield.

Here’s what I cover:

• Why search emails make you passive.

• How I set my investment criteria in minutes.

• Where I went to search for live deals.

• My quick yield calculation and how I ruled out the non-starters.

• The deal I landed on in Frome, and why it stood out.

• The key questions I’ll be asking the agent next.
  

Takeaway: You don’t need to wait around for deals to find you. With just 15 focused minutes, you can be looking at a property worth chasing.

If you’d like help building a repeatable system for finding and analysing commercial property deals, book a call with me and my team at NC Real Estate: https://ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall

Repairs and service charges aren’t glamorous, but they’re essential to successful commercial property ownership. When I manage them well, my buildings stay safe, compliant and profitable. When I don’t, things unravel fast.

In this episode, I share how I deal with repairs and service charges, and what you should be looking out for in your portfolio.

I explain the difference between FRI and IRI leases and why it’s a myth that only the top floor pays for the roof or the ground floor pays for pest control — everyone benefits from a safe, dry building, so everyone contributes.

I also break down a typical service charge budget:

• Soft services: cleaning, refuse, pest control

• Hard services: fabric repairs, emergency lighting, fire alarms

• Utilities: communal electricity, water, reserve fund

• Management: accounting, risk assessments, management fees
  

I talk through how costs are usually apportioned — pro-rata by floor area or as fixed percentages set out in the lease — and why charging regularly, with reserves for bigger items, avoids nasty surprises.

If tenants don’t pay, landlords aren’t powerless: interest, debt recovery and even forfeiture are options. But the best outcomes come from following RICS best practice — resolving disputes quickly, correcting errors, and using ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) such as mediation or expert determination. The courts expect it under the Civil Procedure Rules, and it’s nearly always cheaper and faster than litigation.

👉 Book a call with me and my team at NC Real Estate to review your service charge budgets: CLICK HERE

Commercial property doesn’t always go the way you imagined. You buy with excitement, you celebrate completion... and then the problems start.

Tenants won’t surrender, service charge arrears mount up, dilapidations cost you thousands, or compliance curveballs hit. It's all gone wrong!

In this episode, Natasha Collins MRICS pulls back the curtain on what really happens when deals go wrong. You’ll hear:

• Why every investor should set up a “5% buffer” today
• The sparkle of research VS the reality of ownership
• Real-world case studies: tenants who won't surrender, dilapidation bills you didn't budget for, service charge shortfalls, and finance/compliance knocking your cash flow sideways!
• A clear framework for responding without panic
• And when to just walk away

Because one bad deal doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means you need the right plan to turn it around!

Ready to talk through your own situation? Book a strategy call with NC Real Estate here.

Ever wondered how I personally invest my own money?

In this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my investment strategy and showing you where commercial property fits into the bigger picture. Think of it as a back-to-school lesson plan for building a balanced portfolio that reflects both your goals and your lifestyle.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

• Stocks & Shares ISA and “fun” stock picks – why I use them as a supporting layer, and the playful way I buy YSL shares instead of handbags.

• My SSAS Pension – how I structure it, why it’s my main savings vehicle, and the story of the red telephone box that generates monthly rental income inside my pension.

• Stocks & REITs inside the SSAS – from global trackers like the S&P500 to UK property companies, including Land Securities (and why buying those shares was personal).

• Property outside the pension – the reality of residential vs commercial returns, plus what I learned from a refinancing challenge.

• The full picture – how commercial property sits at the centre of everything, supported by stocks, ISAs, and small, fun investments.

By the end, you’ll see why I believe commercial property is the cornerstone of a strong, long-term investment strategy — and how you can start thinking about where it might fit into yours.

If this episode feels like a crash course, then my Back to School Training is the full lesson plan. Join me there and I’ll walk you step by step through how to strengthen your own portfolio with commercial property.

👉 Link to sign up for the training

When it comes to the economy, the news can feel overwhelming. One day it’s good, the next day it’s doom and gloom. A recent poll reported that 71% of Brits believe the economy has worsened since Brexit, and 77% say their cost of living has gone up. No wonder so many investors are feeling uncertain.

Link to the Huff Post Article 

In this episode of The Honest Property Investment Podcast, I break down what all this really means for commercial property investors. I share:

• Why the economic climate feels so confusing right now

• The external forces that actually impact your portfolio (and the ones that don’t)

• How to filter out the noise so you can make clear, confident investment decisions

• A simple action item you can use this week to cut through uncertainty
  

If you’ve been holding back because of market worries, this episode will help you focus on what truly matters.

And if you’d like to go further, my Back to School Training will walk you through how to filter the noise, identify opportunities in the current market, and set out your commercial property strategy for the next 12 months. You’ll find more details in my newsletters this week, or you can secure your place now through the link in the show notes.

Buying a commercial property is exciting — but it’s also scary. What if you overpay? What if there are hidden costs waiting to bite you later?

In this episode, I share the two essential steps you must take before you commit to buying, so you can protect yourself from nasty surprises:

• ✅ Why you should always commission two valuations — one at market value and one at vacant possession.

• ✅ What a building survey really tells you (it’s not just about defects — it’s about who pays for them under the lease).

• ✅ Why spending up to £5,000 on due diligence can save you tens of thousands in the long run.
  

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to avoid overpaying and how to make sure you don’t get caught with unexpected bills.

We’re going Back to School at NC Real Estate with a brand-new 3-part live training series for commercial property investors:

Back to School: Finance, Tenant Demand & Systems for Commercial Property Investors

• 📌 Session 1: How to structure finance more creatively

• 📌 Session 2: How to prove tenant demand in any market

• 📌 Session 3: How to systemise your portfolio so it runs smoothly (without burning you out)
  

👉 Early Bird tickets are just £199 + VAT if you book before Wednesday 27th August. After that, the price rises to £299 + VAT.

🔔 Back to School Training — September 2025

Bridging finance, refinancing, and VAT are some of the most misunderstood areas in commercial property investment. Whether you are unsure about when to use bridging, how refinancing actually works, or why VAT is sometimes charged on commercial properties, this episode breaks it down in plain English.

By the end of the episode, you will have the clarity you need to make better decisions on your deals — and you will see why VAT is not as complicated as it first appears.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How bridging, refinancing, and VAT all fit together in structuring commercial property deals.

• What bridging finance is, when to use it, and the pros and cons.

• Why investors refinance, how lenders assess deals, and how refinancing links to bridging.

• When VAT applies on commercial property, whether tenants mind paying VAT on rent and service charges, and why VAT can actually be beneficial.

• How VAT registration works: the 40 business day timeline, who can register (individuals, SSAS, companies), and why registration applies only to the property rather than your entire portfolio.
  

Want to get on our newsletter list so that you hear about the September Back to School Masterclass series? Email [email protected] and we'll get you registered.