Like Pberry4032 said, it does include all type of second homes, if you structure as a limited company, you can still claim all your expenses back including interest rate.
Remember that the 3% extra stamp duty becomes part of your outlay, so its tax deductible.
To reduce or avoid the 3% you could build, a bit more work, but worth it.
If you want to do little or no work at all, the best property to invest in is Ground rents, you received your income on a yearly basis or twice a year, most income is around 7%, they tend to double every 10 years or increase every 10 years in line with RPI. &5 return could be 14% in 10 years time, these are already written into the leases, no need for arguments. The only time a leaseholder comes to you for negotiation is when they want to extend the lease, this you will also charge for, there are companies that handle this for the freeholder.
You let the leaseholders appoint a management company or you appoint one for them, that's all, if you invest £2M on Ground rents, you could be looking at around £150,000 a year without doing anything other than invoices you will sent out once a year or you can let the management company collect it for you.
Its also the best to leave in a trust because its less work, the value do grow over a longer period of time and the income do grow periodically as well, the good thing is the income is binding and if the leaseholder choose not to pay, they could loose their flat/lease.
Sorry I cant advice on shares/stocks, don't know enough about it.
