South Manchester cannot decide to sell or rent

[TopOfDaMornin]

I recently moved out of a 2 bed flat in West Didsbury, South Manchester, into a house I just purchased. I still own the flat and it is currently empty, and mortgage free. It is in a sought after area, worth approx. £200k and would rent for £875 per month.
I am ‘due’ £15k back in stamp duty if I sell the flat within 3 years.

The flat is a 2nd floor flat with solid concrete floors, carpets, large spacious rooms, and electric only. There are 9 flats in the block and 6 are currently let to mainly young professionals. The flat would be easy to let but requires some modernisation, such as:
a. Gas supply and central heating installing (the current old fashioned under floor heating does not work efficiently)
b. 2 new bathrooms (or at the least a good cosmetic job doing on the existing ones)
c. Some painting and some carpets replacing
d. A new electric circuit board and perhaps some more double sockets installing
e. There is a bed, sofa, fridge freezer and a washer dryer. They are working but 10 years old

I estimate the above would cost approx. £10k. The flat can be prone to dampness / mould if not ventilated (a concern if tenants where there).
My dilemma is that if I were to rent it, I would need to spend time and money (£10k to do it up and loss of £15k in stamp duty) to do so. If I sell the thing and invest the money elsewhere e.g Vanguard world index tracker or investment trust such as City of London [4.3% yield]).

I have some experience of letting properties in the past that I have managed myself. I already have approx. £200k in a HYP, hence maybe some reluctant to add yet more money to shares.

I would be interested in your views.

[StepOne]

I sold my only buy to let about 5 years ago and haven't regretted it. The cash went into high-yield shares, and delivers income pretty much the same as the profit I was making on the flat. The main advantage is that there is absolutely no hassle, no maintenance, no voids etc. Plus the money is all now in ISAs so it's tax free, although for you it would take a few years to shelter it all.

In capital terms it has been up and down - currently about 5% down. I think the flat I sold would probably be worth about the same now as it was 5 years ago.

In income terms it's a no brainer for me. Your yield works out about 4.8%, less costs/voids/maintenance/tax. You should be able to match that with an HYP/IT/ETF, with no hassles and potentially can tax-shelter it fairly easily.

The only reason to keep the property would be if you think property prices are going to out perform. I've taken the view that that's unlikely from here, although I've been thinking that for a while.

Cheers,
StepOne

[jofc]

Depends on your view & situation.

Currently have BTL with no mortgage. Had it 20 years now, got in early.
So now if I sold it, we would have a big CGT bill

So we keep it as:
1) its a cash cow.
2) it gives us somewhere to send the kids to, as I don't want them living at home when we retire & they are 30+