All 49 flats in this block in Manchester are owned by amateur investors - 37 of them thanks to one property club. Now it is feared that their value has slumped by HALF - or worse - in four years.
The get-rich-quick advertising of property investment club Inside Track has persuaded more than 100,000 people to attend seminars in the past few years. But profits at the privately owned club, which are generated mainly by recommending newly built properties to fee-paying members, are sliding.
And the number of people prepared to sign up for its £2,500-a-time seminars have plunged.
The firm, Britain's biggest property club, last week axed 44 staff and announced it would cease offering free taster seminars held at hotels and conference centres. But it is not just Inside Track that is suffering - so are some of its clients.
Falling property values, a shortage of tenants and an oversupply of certain types of homes mean some landlords are losing money fast. Lenders are even turning away some landlords (see below), or forcing them to pay punishing rates of interest.
Inside Track boss Tony McKay admits the market is difficult. 'There is less demand for seminars,' he says. 'We are focusing on existing members who are still buying properties but at a slower rate.' There are 10,000 members, most of whom have bought membership for a fee of several thousand pounds paid on top of the £2,500 seminar bill and McKay says most are happy. Not all, however.
Photographer Gary Hynes, 51, and dozens of others are sitting on mounting losses through investing in a block of flats called Bridgewater View in Monton, Manchester.
Before the block was built in 2004, Inside Track urged investors to buy two-bedroom flats it said were worth £140,000 and likely to attract up to £650 a month in rent. It is not known what the properties are worth today, but a two-bedroom flat in the development failed to sell at auction in December for a guide price of £70,000. The flat is now let for £425 a month.
Gary, from Oxton, The Wirral, and other Inside Track members are failing to cover their mortgages with rental income. They are having to dip into their savings to meet their mortgage bills and at least one is thought to have had his property repossessed.
he development of 49 flats, all bought by amateur landlords, and in 37 cases on the recommendation of Inside Track, has been beset by problems. The location, build quality and security have been cited as just a few of many troubles. Inside Track denies responsibility.
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