Visa says many banks continue to have the authority to issue credit cards with photos None of the Big Four issues them. The Liverpool Victoria Bank (formerly Frizzell) still issues credit cards with photos. Cahoot, the Abbey National internet bank, launched a “webcard” last year offering extra security features for the internet. Purchases are authorised by single-use transaction numbers, so the vendor does not learn the credit card number.If you have any questions about personal finance topics or problems, please write to Questions of Cash, ‘The Independent’, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail cash independent.co.uk We regret that we can reply only to letters published here. The buy-to-let bubble may be about to burst. Although more than £4bn was spent one on more than 50,000 properties in the four years to 2001, says the Association of Residential Lettings Agents, higher house prices are cutting returns for new landlords and rents are static in much of the country. Moneynetmortgagesearches The buy-to-let bubble may be about to burst.

Void periods (when it is empty between tenancies) are lengthening. And with interest rates expected to rise this year, landlords’ margins for error will become thinner still.At the height of the buy-to-let boom, landlords could expect gross returns in excess of 10 per cent, even in London. Now the figure is closer to 4 per cent in the capital, and 7 to 8 per cent outside. If something goes wrong, such as a tenant not paying, or damaging the property, landlords could be forced to cover the cost from savings or income.This is the situation facing Anne Hansen, a consultant from Berkshire Ms Hansen, 46, owns a studio flat in Slough. The flat has been empty for three months, after the previous tenant, found through a newspaper advert, left it in too poor a condition to re-let. Ms Hansen has to cover the mortgage from her own resources.”The tenant didn’t take care of the property,” she say.

“It wasn’t trashed, but I let it for one person and it looked as if three people had been living there It now needs total cleaning, redecorating and refurbishing It needs new appliances, and the toilet needs to be fixed. It’s a question of having the money to do it.”Ms Hansen’s tenant left without paying the last month’s rent, so she could not even fall back on the deposit to cover the repairs. Even so, she plans to keep the property and let it again, this time through an agent. The added cost of the agency fees, plus the loss when the flat has been empty, has eaten into her return. But she hopes that over time, growth in the value of the flat will make up for this. “I will be down on income, but I am looking at this for the longer term,” she says. “But if I had bought a bigger property, I would certainly be feeling the pinch.”Landlords with more expensive properties seem to be suffering most, especially in London.

The decline in corporate lets, and a surplus of newly built rental properties is forcing landlords to wait longer for a tenant, or even accept lower rents. In the worst cases, landlords find the rent does not cover the mortgage.”Three years ago landlords might have been looking for 10 per cent returns,” Andrew Reeves, of London estate agent Andrew Reeves says “The house price surge has pegged that back. We’ve not been looking above 8 per cent for the past two years, but you can still make it pay.”Mr Reeves advises would-be landlords to put down a bigger deposit, and borrow 65 to 70 per cent of the property cost. “The people who have suffered are probably more highly geared than they should be,” he warns.Some lettings professionals are calling the phenomenon of rents that fail to cover buy-to-let mortgage payments the new negative equity.