As the great, great-grandson of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Blake Butler Creagh and Elizabeth Clara Creagh, I’ve come to learn a fascinating story about my ancestors. Back in the late 1800s, Walter, a distinguished figure in the British army, made an unconventional move by adding his wife’s maiden name to his own through a royal decree after their marriage in 1888. This unique triple-barrelled name became a part of our family history.

While researching our family’s past, I discovered that Walter’s decision wasn’t solely about embracing progress or societal norms. Instead, it was intricately tied to the wealth and inheritance from Elizabeth’s family, who owned extensive land in Co Clare. In those times, such arrangements between affluent families without male heirs were customary, where the continuation of the family name held significant importance.

The lifestyle they led, dividing their time between Clare and Dublin, was reflective of their combined prosperity. However, as time passed, my ancestors made a home in Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin, documented in the 1911 National Census. Their residence in this genteel neighbourhood symbolized an era of affluence and social standing.

Today, as I explore our family’s past and the story of our ancestors, I’ve also encountered a property – No 19, Brighton Square – which has just been sold. It’s fascinating to see how our family’s history intersects with the sale of this property, hinting at changes and transitions that occurred over time.

Walter’s longevity was notable, living until the age of 83 and resting in Malta under a simplified version of his name. Similarly, his wife, who passed away in 1928, had signed herself as ‘Clara Creagh’ in 1911, shedding parts of her name, indicating potential changes within the family dynamics.

I recently went to the family mausoleum in Dublin where they rest, and above the entrance the final is ‘Creagh’; the Butler being re-added, as it is with my surname, Butler-Creagh, as my great-grandfather’s branch of the family, Richard Butler-Creagh, who I am named after, set to differentiate himself from his brothers.

Looking through Debrett’s Peerage and pairing it together with various newspaper articles like the Irish Times published on 1st September 2022, has been fascinating.

Its 05:25am as I write and I am glued to the TV screen. Our good friend, Olly Bryant has just finished another session in the Aston Martin Vantage in the 24hr Le Mans. Last year was his first drive in the endurance race and even though I follow Formula One, I never thought that I would be as interested in other car racing as I found myself watching the race for a very unhealthy proportion of the 24 hours. But it was great entertainment and in the end, the whole family were watching. We had one screen with the live coverage and another screen with the live statistics for all the teams. We were totally addicted.  So when Olly asked me if Henley Finance would like to get involved this year and sponsor him, we jumped at the chance.

The Beechdean Aston Martin Racing team are doing really well at the moment, an incredible 3^rd in LMGTE-Am class, with two other drivers, the team owner, Andrew Howard and Aston Martin youngster, Ross Gunn. As I write, Andrew Howard has just put in the fastest lap time in the class of 3:53.797 which if they keep this up, could translate to 2^nd place. This would be fantastic as during the test, the team completed a portion of the 8,469 mile circuit and came sixth. We are long time followers of Olly’s achievements, so wherever they finish we will be raising a glass to him.

My regret is that I am not in the pit lane with them, still, I will have plenty of opportunity to wander around Henley with my Beechdean AMR/ Henley Finance team jacket, sporting the logos as I don’t think the novelty will wear off for a while.

This is the first sponsorship of its kind that Henley Finance has become involved in and it is a privilege to be associated with Olly Bryant, the Beechdean AMR team and Le Mans 24 Hour and we wish them every success.

Interest rates are always in the news. Whether they are static as they have been now for years or whether quarter of a per cent rises are hinted at by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England that might spell economic collapse. Other than homeowners whose mortgage repayments are on the edge of affordability or first time buyers, there are less obvious casualties who are, rather pointedly being made to move over.

The buy to let investor: at best, helping others while helping themselves; at worst ‘a house of multiply occupancy slum landlord’, will start to feel more challenged by the owner/occupier market with George Osbourne’s decision to phase out buy to let tax relief at the higher income tax rate on interest payments by 2020, as well as restricting the “wear and tear” allowance to costs that are actually incurred as opposed to the current blanket 10% write-off. This will affect the projected yield. Despite a higher than average interest rate of 4% for buy to let compared with 3% for the first time buyer, the first time buyer has effectively to pay 5.7% on their repayment mortgage. On top of that, the buy to let investor can currently claim tax relief on the interest of up to 45%, lowering the effective interest rate paid from 4% to 2.2%. That makes the playing field skewed in the investors’ favour.

Once tax relief is restricted to the 20% basic rate, the buy to let investors effective borrowing cost will rise from 2.2% to 3.2%. This is now on the wrong side of many investors’ comfort zone.   Although gross yields average 4.2%, net they only come in at 2.9% which is less than the new effective cost of debt will be. If rates start to rise in the meantime, even if its by a relatively small amount, then the buy to let advantage will be eroded.  This is brought starkly into focus by capital growth becoming increasingly less dependable therefore buy to let investments less attractive.

Once tax relief is restricted to the 20% basic rate, the buy to let investors effective borrowing cost will rise from 2.2% to 3.2%. This is now on the wrong side of many investors’ comfort zone.   Although gross yields average 4.2%, net they only come in at 2.9% which is less than the new effective cost of debt will be. If rates start to rise in the meantime, even if its by a relatively small amount, then the buy to let advantage will be eroded.

How do the recent floods effect the property market?  If a property is close to a river that has burst its banks then the chances are that the value of that property will go down, the reason for this is quite obvious, damage caused by the food water and higher insurance premiums. there are certain things that you can do,  and that is to have plan for when the floods come, there is a system called a Delta Membrane System this  assumes the water will get in, it then directs the water via channels into a sump where it is then pumped out of the building. I have seen photographs of a house where the water is all around the house and the inside of the house is completely  dry with the pump constantly pumping the water out,  it also has a back up system where an alarm sounds just in case the power fails and it then moves on to its own batteries.

This system is easier to fit when you are building a house or carrying out a major refurbishment project. The system requires a membrane  to be attached to all the external walls and the floor, you can then plaster over this and lay your floor so that as the water flows in it hits the membrane and flows into a channel and then into the sump and is then pumped out.

This may not help with insurance premiums to start with but at least you will not have encountered all the damage and therefore no need for a claim.

I have fitted one of these systems and they work really well, during all of the heavy weather we have had the building has remained completely dry, so wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this system and if it is a house you are selling then I am sure if you have this in place,  and the other house in the area does not I know what house I would rather purchase.  I like to ensure that my properties are properly protected from natural hazzards and also ensuring that your property is insulated and meets high efficiency standards can save you money, in a recent article on the eco scheme I discussed my thoughts on ensuring properties meet high efficiency standards.

Richard Butler-Creagh

I think the property market will be steady this year it seems that Mortgage approvals are up and the government schemes are giving the market a boost, it will be interesting to see how long they keep this up there is only so much they can put into this, and it will be interesting to see what happens when they stop the help to buy.

The other thing that will be good to keep an eye on is average earnings. the average earnings should be about 3 time the cost of the average house, but I have a feeling this has got a bit out of line. in the late eighties and early nineties the average earnings did not go up in line with house prices, and as a result when the average house price got to about 4.5 times earnings,  we had a major correction in house prices. this time we are already way past this level, it has not had such a big impact as interest rates are historically low so this makes things more affordable, so what happens if interest rates go up, as there is only one way for them to go.

I hope the people at the Bank of England are keeping a close eye on this as it could end up getting quite expensive to own a house that you have stretched yourself to buy on current interest rates,  only to find the only way of slowing the housing market down is by increasing rates. people who can’t afford it will put their property on the market, then you get over supply and then the rush to sell starts and prices start to drop.

I think it is a good time to fix rates with your lender and at least you know that you can maintain the mortgage payments when the time comes when interest rates go back normal.

Richard Butler-Creagh

This is a business I have been involved in for many years, it is essential to understand all aspects of the property business as decisions have to be made quickly. First is valuation I can put a guild price together based on what has sold in the immediate area and the amount of work required to get the property ready for sale, if that is what is intended, then to get a more precise value I instruct a Chartered Surveyor they will value the property and report on the condition of the building this also comes with insurance should they get the value wrong, and if there is a bank involved they will insist on this. Next is the legal side, the Solicitor will carry out the all the checks and give you a complete report on the title, this will let you know what you are buying and all the boundaries. Next I have to work out how much I would be prepared to lend, this is worked on the basis of what we call loan to value(LTV). there is no set rules for this, but generally the better the property and location the higher loan to value would be considered, 75% is the average. This is an expensive way to borrow money so you have to know the borrower has a strategy to repay the loan, this is where a lot of people get it wrong if they don’t have a clear exit strategy there is usually problems down the line. These loans are generally between 3 and 12 months which can soon absorb a lot of the profit for the developer if they have to pay the short term rates instead of moving the loan to a more long term rate. Rates vary so much in this business as no two deals are the same, some have more risk attached so the rate will be higher, and also what the security is whether it is first charge or second charge this has a big impact on the rate.

Richard Butler-Creagh