Oakham house price 'Monopoly'; How do prices vary?

Well, during these dark winter nights, if there is nothing on the telly, my family and I like to play the board game ‘Monopoly’.  The buying and renting of property, it’s like a busman’s holiday for me!

Interestingly, the game was originally invented at the turn of the 20^th Century (in 1903) and the game was initially called ‘The Landlord’s Game’!  Anyway, after a few years in the wilderness, the current owners of the game renamed it in 1935 and so began ‘Monopoly’ as we know it today.

So, whether you are a homeowner or landlord in Oakham, what would a Monopoly board look like today in the town?

Property prices over the last 80 years have certainly increased beyond all recognition, so looking at the original board, I have substituted some of the original streets with the most expensive and least expensive locations in Oakham today.

Initially, I have focused on the LE15 postcode only, looking at the brown strips on the board, the ‘new’ Old Kent Road in Oakham today would be St Anne’s Close, with an average value £105,900 (per property).  Similarly, Whitechapel Road would be Ladywell, which would be worth £120,500.

What about the exclusive dark blue strips of Park Lane and Mayfair? Again, looking at LE15, Park Lane would be Stamford Road at £725,000 and Mayfair would be Catmose Park Road at £850,000.  However, look a little further afield from the LE15 postcode, and such roads as Bradley Road in Clipsham would claim the Mayfair card at £932,500!

Also, I can’t forget the train stations (my favourite!), and over the last 12 months, the average price that property within a quarter mile of the station sold for was £212,550.

So, that got me thinking… what you would have had to have paid for a property in Oakham back in 1935, when the game originally came out?

·        The average Oakham detached house today is worth £422,000 would have set you back 763 Pounds 10 shillings and 6 old pence.

·        The average Oakham semi detached house today is worth £237,430 would have set you back 429 Pounds 11 shillings and 7 old pence.

·        The average Oakham terraced / town house today is worth £203,100 would have set you back 367 Pounds 9 shillings and 4 old pence.

·        The average Oakham apartment today is worth £153,500 would have set you back 277 Pounds 14 shillings and 6 old pence.

If that sounds like another currency, you must be in your 20’s or 30’s, because it was back in February 1971, that Britain went decimal and hundreds of years of everyday currency was turned into history overnight. On 14th of February of that year, there were 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound. The following day all that was history and the pound was made up of 100 new pence.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this bit of fun, but underlying all this is one important fact; Property investing (like Monopoly!!) is a long game, which has seen impressive rises over the last 80 years.

In my previous articles I have talked about what is happening on a month by month, or year by year, basis and if you are going to invest in the Oakham property market, you should consider the Oakham property you buy as a medium to long term investment, because Buy-2-Let is pretty much what it sounds like… you buy a property in order to rent it out to tenants – on a long term basis.

As I reminded a soon to be ‘first time landlord’ from Barleythorpe the other week, Buy-2-Let in Oakham (as in other parts of the country) is very different from owning your own home. When you become an Oakham landlord, you are in essence running a small business – and one with important legal responsibilities.

On that note, I want to remind landlords of the recent and future changes in legislation when it comes to Buy-2-Let. This year, rules have changed about tenant deposits, carbon monoxide detectors and early in the New Year, landlords will have responsibilities to do immigration checks on all their tenants.

Failure to adhere to them will mean a minimum of heavy fines in the thousands or in some cases, prison ... it’s a mine field!

If you have any questions on a potential Buy-2-Let property you have seen, or if you have an existing property, and would like my opinion, please contact me via david@upp-property.co.uk.  I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stamford vs Oakham - "Clash of the property market Titans"

Many landlords have been asking me my thoughts on the Stamford property market recently, and in particular, what is happening to property values.

My calculations show property values in Stamford quite interestingly grew in the month of September by 0.2%.  When one looks at the annual growth, Stamford values are 4.2% higher (when comparing Sept 14 to Sept 15), impressive when you consider the annual growth of property values was only 3.3% per annum in May.  

On the other hand, there are signs that the fundamental growth of property values in Stamford has now peaked, despite those average property values being below levels recorded in 2007 (just before the 2008 crash).

Whilst the Stamford headline rate appears to be better, i.e. the year on year (Sept 14 to Sept 15) growth rate of 4.2% is obviously better than the 3.3% in May 14 to May 15), this impressive rise of Stamford property values masks the underlying truth in what is really happening to local property values in the town.

Throughout 2015, property values have been 'yo-yo like' on a month by month basis, being quite volatile in nature.

For example;

·                     September 2015               0.2% rise

·                     August 2015                       0.4% rise

·                     July 2015                              0.3% rise

·                     June 2015                            0.2% rise

·                     May 2015                             0.0% level

·                     April 2015                            1.0% rise

·                     March 2015                         0.5% rise

This is in part due to seasonal factors, as well as mortgage approvals increasing over June and July, and then falling by over 15% in August, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The outlook for the Stamford property market remains positive against the foundations of low mortgage rates and growing consumer confidence.

However, I do have to question the recent CML mortgage data and whether that raises issues over whether the rate of growth since the Tory’s were re-elected in the early summer can continue?

On a positive note, Stamford property values are still running ahead of salaries and average property values are 1.2% below the levels recorded in 2007.

Talking to fellow property professionals in the town, demand for property has been showing signs of moderating in the final few months of 2015, which in turn will lead to a slight slowdown in the pace of house price growth in the run up to the festive season.

You see, it is really important not to read too much into one month’s (September’s) headline figures.

Readers might be interested to note that before the 2008 property crash, all the UK region’s housing markets tended to move up and down in tandem like the Stamford Synchronised Swimming team at the Stamford Leisure Pool!

Since then though, the Greater London property market took off like a rocket in 2009/10, whilst the rest of the UK only really started to grow in 2012/13, and even then that growth was a lot more modest than the Capital’s.

Looking closer to home, it can even be different in neighbouring towns, areas and cities, so whilst Stamford property values are 4.2% higher than a year ago (as mentioned above), Oakham property values are 6.9% higher than a year ago.

I cannot stress enough the importance of doing your homework.   Please read my other articles on this blog, along with what I consider to be the best Buy-2-Let deals around at any one time in the town, irrespective of which agent it is on the market with.  And, please contact me if you have any questions on a property you already own, or if you have seen a potential property you are interested in buying.  I would be happy to chat through its pro’s (and con’s) with you.

Email me via David@upp-property.co.uk or call me on 01780 484 554.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

3 Best Buy-2-Let on the market...

1.
In no particular order, the first property on my list this week is this superb terraced home on Radcliffe Road in Stamford.  This one has a superb close to town location, would be an excellent investment, especially as it looks to be presented in excellent order and has an upstairs bathroom.
  

Radcliffe Road, Stamford - asking price of £164,950, via Newton Fallowell

You could expect an income of around £625pcm

 

Click on this link to see it's details and to contact Newton Fallowell directly...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56231576.html

 

2.
Secondly, on the market with UPP Property Agents (Guide Price £255,000), this fantastic family home on Brooke Road in Oakham (close to the well regarded Brooke Hill Primary School, and within walking distance into town), will make a great investment for someone looking for capital growth and with the facility to extend (STLPP). 

 

Could be purchased with tenants in place, so to expect an income from day one!

 

Brooke Road, Oakham - guide price of £255,000, via UPP Property Agents

Currently let out and achieving £725pcm with long standing tenants.

 

Here are a few pics to whet your appetite, but do follow the link below for full details... 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38260131.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on this link to see more and to contact Adrian McCarthy, UPP Property Agents.

 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38260131.html

 

Tel: 01572 725 825 or email: Adrian.Mccarthy@upp-property.co.uk

 

 

3.
And, last on my list of great B2L's is this tidy bungalow.  Bungalows are always a solid rental investment. The “younger generation” are investing in bungalows as a their retirement home, but are snapping them up now.

Glebe Way, Oakham - Offers over £179,995, via Murray Estate Agents
Expect an income of £650pcm and likely to appeal to long term tenants.
A sound purchase.

Click on this link for more details and to contact Murray Estate Agents directly.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55972433.html

Has Osborne killed buy to let in Oakham?

 

George Osborne’s autumn statement last week caused landlords to ask whether buy to let is a viable investment option when he announced that landlords, when buying another buy to let property from April 2016, will have to pay an additional 3% stamp duty on top of the standard rate.

So, for example, on a £124,000 property, the stamp duty goes from nil to £3,720. It becomes quite stark when you look at the middle market, so it means that the stamp duty bill for a £285,000 buy to let home will rise from the current £4,250 to £12,800 from April next year. 

Some say property in Oakham (and Stamford come to that) will be worth less because potential landlords will not be willing to pay as much for them, and if house builders or existing homeowners don't feel they are going to get as much for them, then there is less motivation to build / sell them?... and the person we can blame for this is George himself.

Back in 2012, he chose to utilise the British housing market to kick start the UK economy with subsidies, ‘Funding for Lending’ and ‘Help to Buy’. However, whilst that helped the Tory’s get back into power in 2015, some say this impressive growth in the UK property market has been at the expense of pricing out youngsters wanting to buy their first home.

Others say this is the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’, as over the next four years Landlords will slowly lose the ability to offset all their mortgage interest against tax on rental income, after changes announced in the Summer Budget. At the moment landlords can claim tax relief on buy to let mortgage monthly interest repayments at the top level of tax they pay (i.e. 40% or 45%). However, over the next four years this will reduce slowly to the basic rate of tax – currently 20%.

Surely this is the end of Buy to Let in Oakham? Probably, but before we all run to hills panicking let me give you another thought…

Stamp Duty rules were changed in December 2014. Before then, landlords were eagerly buying up properties under the ‘old slab style Stamp Duty’ system. For example, the stamp duty bill on that £285,000 property was lower on the old slab style duty (pre Dec 2014), at £8,550, yet it isn’t a million miles away from new £12,800 stamp duty bill. Interestingly though, George has left a legal loophole in the new rules, because when it comes to selling up, they can offset purchase costs against any eventual capital gains tax, including stamp duty.

I believe that total returns from buy to let will continue to outpace other investments, such as the stock market, gilts, bonds and even pensions. Also, the best part about investing in property is that it is bricks and mortar. You can touch it, you can feel it, and it isn’t controlled by some City whiz kid in Canary Wharf.  The British understand property and that goes a long way!

Buy to let has enough impetus behind it that prospective landlords will continue to buy - even with a larger stamp duty bill. Oakham landlords will need to be savvy with what property they buy to ensure the extra stamp duty costs are mitigated.

Buying buy to let property is a long term venture. In the past, it didn’t matter what property you bought in Oakham or at what price – you would always make money. Now with these extra taxes, the adage of ‘any old Oakham (or Stamford) house will make money’ has gone out of the window.   You wouldn’t dream of investing in the stock market without at least looking in the newspapers or taking advice and opinion from others, so why would you take the same advice and opinion about buying a buy to let property in Rutland / South Lincolnshire / North Cambridgeshire?

Oakham Buy-2-Let … Freehold House or Leasehold Flat?

Well my Oakham Property Blog reading friends, as seems to be all the rage with Jeremy Corben asking the PM questions emailed in to him at Prime Minster Question Times, I to wish to answer a question emailed to me from a potential Oakham landlord last week. Nice chap, lives in Barleythorpe, and it turns out, after having a coffee with him, he works in IT, has a spare bit of cash (now the kids have flown the nest) and wanted to buy his first Buy-2-Let (B2L) property.

His main question was ... “Do I buy a freehold house or a leasehold flat in Oakham”?

Most people will say “freehold” every time, because you own the land. However, it’s not as simple as that (it never would be, would it!). The definitive answer though is to research what Oakham tenants want, in the area of Oakham they want!

The tenant is ultimately your customer, and, if they don't want to rent what you decide is best to buy, then you are not going to have a successful B2L investment.

So, starting with the tenant in mind and working backwards from there, you won’t go far wrong.

In a nutshell, find the demand before you think about creating the supply.

Leasehold flats and apartments in Oakham are excellent in some respects as they offer the landlord certain advantages, including the fact that a flat can be initially cheaper to buy. Yields can be quite good, offering better cash flow. The building will already be insured and, yes, there is a service charge, but it’s still for a service at the end of the day and that cost is spread between many others (i.e. when your freehold house roof goes, its falls 100% on your shoulders) and one of my favourites is that there is often no garden to maintain or blown down fences to replace!

However, some Oakham leasehold flats can suffer from poor capital growth. Some leasehold properties have no cap on the level of the service charge and it may get out of control. The length of the lease will significantly affect value if not renewed before it gets too short.

Thankfully there’s not many, but some Oakham apartments/flats have burdensome clauses. Finally, with leases, there can be sub-letting issues – which means you can’t let them out.

So what do the numbers look like? Well, since 2003, the average freehold property in Oakham (detached, semis and terraced) has risen from £131,412 to £184,657, a rise of 40% whilst the average Oakham leasehold property (flats and apartments) has gone up in value from £88,500 to £119,998, a more mediocre rise of 35%. 

I was really interested to note that of the 1,741 rental properties in the Rutland County Council area that the Office of National Statistics believe are either let privately or through a letting agency, 249 of them (or 14.3%) are apartments.

However, there are only 1,168 apartments in the whole council area (be they owned, council rented or privately rented), which represents 7.8% of the whole housing stock in the area. This really intrigued me that, quite obviously, there is a high proportion of Oakham’s leasehold apartments/flats rented to tenants compared to detached, semi’s or terraced. Fascinating, don’t you think?

Every Oakham apartment block, every terraced house or semi is different. Like I said at the start, the definitive answer though is to research what Oakham tenants want, in the area of Oakham they want.

Demand for good apartments near transport links can be popular and can offer the Oakham landlord very good yields with minimal voids. However, Oakham terraced houses and semi’s, whilst not always offering the best yields (although sometimes they can), they do offer the Oakham landlord decent capital growth.

My advice to the prospective landlord as it is to you is do your homework.  One such website, which only talks about the Oakham buy to let Property Market, is the Oakham Property Blog.

Another source of info many Oakham landlords use, is me!

What many Oakham landlords do, irrespective of whether you are a landlord of ours, a landlord with another agent or a DIY landlord, if you see any property in Oakham that catches your eye as a potential buy to B2L property, be it a terraced house, semi or flat ... email me and I will email you back with my thoughts (although I will tell you what you need to hear ... and not necessarily what you want to hear!)

And the 3 BEST Buy-2-Lets this week are...

i) 3 Bed Semi-Detached - On the market for £165,000 with UPP Property Agents

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37085196.html

 

Tremendous rental investment. Currently let out to the same tenant for the last 8 years!! No rent increase over this period and is achieving £525pcm. However, on the market I would expect the rent to increase by £100pcm to £625pcm.

 

 

Offered in good decorative order and offers the full package.  Drive, Garage, 3 bedrooms, front and rear gardens.

 

 

UPP Property Agents

Call Adrian McCarthy on 01572 725 825 to discuss further

 

 

 

 

ii)  2 Bed Terraced home - On the market for £149,950 with Goodwins

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51988051.html.

 

Northumberland Ave rentals are fantastic for many reasons. The location of the property is great for town and access and this particular property is immaculate. Whilst only offering two bedrooms the property offers fantastic internal size rooms and large gardens.

 

Great starter home for a young couple and the rental income at £575pcm isn’t a bad return for Stamford.

 

 

iii)  2 Bed Terraced home - On the market for £142,500 with Murrays Estate Agents

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55889402.html

 

Ladywell in Oakham is a rental investment haven. Having circa 12 fully managed properties on this development, rarely does a 2 bed terrace home become available.

 

Capable of fetching in the region of £475pcm - £495pcm, the property is a great starter property for any first time investment.

 

If you would like to discuss the above properties in more detail, or would like my opinion on any other strong buy-to-let properties you have seen, please contact me via David@upp-property.co.uk and I would be glad to talk to you.

Values of Stamford Terraced Houses smash through the £250/sq ft barrier

The Council of Mortgage Lenders latest snapshot of the Buy-to-Let (B2L) mortgage market shows us that Buy-to-Let landlords haven’t been put off by the Chancellor's announcements on the way Buy-To-Lets are taxed.

Last month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders stated £1.4billion was borrowed by UK landlords to purchase 10,500 B2L properties, up 26.5% from the same month in 2014, when only 8,300 properties were bought with a B2L mortgage.

Go back two years and the number of B2L mortgages used for purchasing (again not re-mortgaging) is 36.4% higher! Even more interesting has been the fact that the average amount borrowed has risen as well. The average B2L mortgage last month was £133,330, up from £128,480 a year ago.

In Stamford, I am speaking to more and more landlords, be they seasoned professional landlords or first time landlords, as they read reports that the Stamford rental market is doing reasonably well, with rents and property values rising.

Interestingly, one landlord recently asked how much he should be paying per square foot (more of that in a second).

The first thing you have to decide is whether you want great capital growth or great rental yield, as every knowledgeable landlord knows, you can’t have both. Over the last twenty years, property values in Stamford have risen by 137.2%, compared to Greater London’s 436.2%.

This has proved that capital growth increases faster in the more expensive South, but your investment money doesn’t go very far, meaning there won’t be as much rental yield from a 1 bed flat in Chelsea (2% pa at best with a fair wind) as a 2 bed semi in Stamford.

However, whilst the figure of 137.2% is an average for the area, certain areas of Stamford have seen capital growth much higher than that and others areas much worse (we have talked about those in previous articles).

If you recall in an earlier article, my research reveals that Stamford apartments tend to generate a better yield than houses, probably because several sharers can afford to pay more than a single family. But houses tend to appreciate in value more rapidly and may well be easier to sell, simply because there are fewer being built.

So what should you be buying in Stamford, and more importantly, for how much?

·    Average apartments in the town are currently selling for approx. £278 / square foot.

·   Terraced houses in Stamford are currently obtaining, on average, £237,000 or £254 / square foot.

·   An average semi in Stamford is selling for £218,600 (and achieving £229 / square foot). 

Now these are of course averages, but it gives you a good place to start from.

In the coming weeks, I will look at rents being achieved on Stamford houses and apartments, and the yields that can be obtained, depending how many bedrooms there are.

 

How EU Migration has changed the Rutland Property Market

 

The argument of migration and what it does, or doesn’t do, for the country’s economic wellbeing is something that has been hotly contested over the last few years. In my article today, I want to talk about what it has done for the Rutland Property market.

Before we look at Rutland though, let us look at some interesting figures for the country as a whole.

 Between 2001 and 2011, 971,144 EU citizens came to the UK to live and of those, 171,164 of them (17.68%) have bought their own home. It might surprise people that only 5.07% of EU migrants managed to secure a council house. However, 676,091 (69.62%) of them went into the private rental sector.  This increase in population from the EU has, no doubt, added great stress to the UK housing market.

Looking at the figures, the housing market as a whole is undoubtedly affected by migration but it has been the private rented housing sector, especially in those areas where migrants come together, that is affected the most.

Indeed, I have seen that many EU migrants often compete for such housing not with UK tenants, but with other EU migrants. In 2001, 3.68 million rented a property from a landlord in the UK.

Ten years later in 2011, whilst EU migration added an additional 676,091 people renting a property from a landlord, there were actually an additional 4.14 million people who became tenants and were not EU migrants, but predominately British!

As a landlord, it is really important to gauge the potential demand for your rental property, especially if you are a landlord who buys property in areas popular with the Eastern European EU migrants. To gauge the level of EU migration (and thus demand), one of the best ways to calculate the growth of migrants is to calculate the number of people who ask for a National Insurance number (which EU members are able to obtain).

Interestingly, in Rutland, migration has fallen slightly over the last few years. For example, in 2006 there were 116 migrant National Insurance Cards (NIC) issued and the year after, in 2007, 119 NIC cards were issued.

However, in 2014, this had slipped to 106 NIC’s. However, if the pattern of other migrations since WW2 continues, over time there will be an increasing demand for owner occupied property, which may affect the market in certain areas of high migrant concentration.  On the other hand, over time some households move into the larger housing market, reducing concentrations and pressures.

In essence, migration has affected the Rutland property market; it couldn’t fail to because of the additional 969 working age migrants that have moved into the Rutland area since 2005.

However, it has not been the main influence on the market. Property values in Rutland today are 9.32% higher than they were in 2005.

According to the Office of National Statistics, rents by tenants in the East Midlands have only grown on average by 0.66% a year since 2005... I would say if it wasn’t for the migrants, we would be in a far worse position when it came to the Rutland property market. This was backed up by the then Home Secretary Theresa May back in 2012 - more than a third of all new housing demand in Britain is caused by inward migration and there is evidence that without the demand caused by such immigration, house prices would be 10% lower over a 20 year period.

If you want to know more about the Rutland property market, and for more articles like this, please visit the Rutland Property Blog www.rutlandandstamfordpropertyblog.co.uk

Stamford Tenants Pay 28.0% of their Salary in rent

 

I had the most interesting chat with a local Stamford landlord the other day about my thoughts on the Stamford property market. The subject of the affordability of renting in Stamford came up in conversation and how that would affect tenant demand.

Everyone wants a roof over their head, and since the Second World War, owning one’s home has been an aspiration of many Brits.  However, with rents at record highs, many are struggling to save enough for a house deposit.  Let’s be honest, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of paying the rent and bills and not saving, but even saving just a small amount each month will sooner or later add up.  George Osborne announced such schemes as the upcoming Help to Buy ISA, where the Government will top up a first time buyers deposit.

Therefore, I thought I would do some research into the Stamford property market and share with you my findings.  Stamford tenants spend on average just under a third of their salary to have a roof over their head.  According to my latest monthly research, the average cost of renting a home in Stamford is £778 per month. 

When the average annual salary of a Stamford worker, stands at £33,268 per year, that means the average Stamford tenant is paying 28.0% of their salary in rent.  I doubt there is much left to save for a deposit towards a house after that, and that my Stamford Property Blog reading friends is such a shame for the youngsters of Stamford.

You see one the reasons for rents being so high is property prices being high.  As I have mentioned before, there is a severe lack of new properties being built in Stamford.  It’s the classic demand vs supply scenario, where demand has increased, but the number of houses being built hasn’t increased at the same level. 

Also, Stamfordians aren’t moving home as often as they did in the 80’s and 90’s, meaning there are fewer properties on the market to buy.  If you recall, a few weeks ago I said back in Autumn 2007, there were over 540 properties for sale in Stamford and since then this has steadily declined year on year, so now there are only 111 for sale in the town.

So, the planners in Stamford haven’t allowed enough properties to be built in the town and existing Stamford homeowners are not moving home as much as they used to, thus creating a double hit on the number of properties to buy.  This is a long term thing and the continuing diminishing supply of housing has been happening for a number of decades and there simply aren’t enough properties in Stamford to match demand, these are the reasons houses prices in Stamford have remained quite buoyant, even though economically, over the last 5 years, it was one of the worst on record for the country and the East Midlands region as a whole.

However, things might not be all doom and gloom as originally thought, as a recent Halifax Survey  (their ‘Generation Rent 2015 Survey’) suggested  more and more people may be long term, if not lifelong tenants. In fact there is evidence in the report to suggest that the perception of how difficult it is to get on the housing ladder is vastly different between parents and people aged 20 to 45.  It seems from this survey that the state of the UK economy has shifted priorities quite significantly in quite a short space of time.  With fewer people able to save up the deposit required by mortgage lenders, more and more people are continuing to rent.  This delay in moving up the property ladder has driven rents across the UK up as more people were seeking rental properties .

 It is often said that more people in central Europe rent for longer or never own their own property. The last two census in 2001 and 2011 show that proportionally the percentage of people who own their own home in Britain is slowly reducing and, as a country, we are becoming more and more like Germany.   That isn’t a bad thing as Germany is considered to have a more successful economy, one of the main stays, often quoted,  is because they have a much more flexible and mobile workforce, (which renting certainly gives) and from that, they have a higher personal income than in the UK.      

Therefore, if we are turning into a more European model and the youngsters of Stamford and the Country have changed their attitudes, demand for rental properties will only and can only go from strength to strength, good news for Stamford tenants as wages will start to rise and good news for Stamford landlords, especially as property values in Stamford are now 5.4% higher than year ago!

My choice of the best Buy-To-Let deals on the market this week...

UNWIN ROAD, South Witham - PRICE £85,500
UPP Property Agents Tel: 01572 725 825

Two bed mid terrace close to centre of South Witham village with good connections. 

 

A cracking yield on this one, with an approximate rental of £450pcm.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37043265.html

2 Bedrooms
Mid-terraced home
Re-fitted kitchen
Re-fitted bathroom
Gas central heating
Double glazing
Front garden

 

SISKIN ROAD, Uppingham - PRICE £136,500
UPP Property Agents Tel: 01572 725 825
Two bed coach house located within walking distance of the town centre.  Allocated parking and close to main road links.

Rental amount of approximately £450pcm.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37062327.html

 

 

2 double bedrooms
Coach house style apartment
Off road parking
Large living room
Bathroom with shower
Gas central heating







RYHALL ROAD, Stamford - PRICE OIEO £185,000
Murrays Estate Agents
Three bed terrace located close to local amenities and within a short walk to the centre of Stamford, complete with OSP.

3 bedrooms
2 reception rooms
Re-fitted kitchen and bathroom
Garden
Off-road parking
Gas central heating

Rental amount approximately £625pcm

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54342263.html

 

Rutland and Stamford house owners desert the housing market with an 8 year low

Even though the housing market is in an upbeat state in many parts of the UK, getting on the property ladder is still challenging for many & regarded as ‘unattainable’ by some. However, that goal has become even worse recently in Rutland & Stamford as the number of houses available to buy is at an 8 year all-time low.

Back in spring 2008, there were over 776 properties for sale in Rutland & Stamford, and since then this has steadily declined year on year, so now there are only 233 for sale in these areas. This continuing diminishing supply of housing has been happening over those years for a while & there simply aren’t enough properties around here to match demand.

According to a recent report by the National Association of Estate Agents, that said, “There are now 11 house hunters fighting after every available house which isn’t sustainable.”   What that means is Rutland & Stamford youngsters, who are looking to buy their first home, are finding themselves being squeezed out by the competition.

However, in the meantime, nobody wants to live with parents until they are in their 30’s, so that in turn creates demand for more rental properties, which means landlords have a greater demand for more rental properties so are buying more, resulting in even less smaller properties for the youngsters to buy, it’s a vicious circle.   

Talking to fellow agents, mortgage arrangers, surveyors & solicitors in the towns, all of whom have extensive dealings in the Rutland & Stamford property market like myself, most of us agree the movement in our marketplace is taking place in the middle to upper market, higher up the property ladder and it’s ‘second and third steppers’ pushing through the properties that are being bought & sold.

That has meant as people tend to move less in the middle to upper market, the number of the properties actually selling has drastically reduced over the last couple of years.

When we look at some of the individual areas of the towns, it paints an interesting picture.

• PE9 - Stamford, Ashton, Aunby, Bainton, Barholm, Barnack, Braceborough, Careby, Carlby, Collyweston, Duddington, Essendine, Easton-on-the-Hill, Great Casterton, Greatford, Ketton, Little Casterton, Newstead, Pickworth, Pilsgate, Ryhall, Southorpe, Tallington, Tickencote, Tinwell, Tixover, Uffington, Ufford, Wilsthorpe, Wothorpe 62 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £238,132), whilst over the Autumn months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the 70’s.
• LE15 - Oakham, Cold Overton, Empingham, Knossington, Langham, Manton, Owston & Newbold, Thistleton, Uppingham, Whissendine 52 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £251,720), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the 80’s.

So what does this all mean for our local homeowners and landlords?  Demand property in our area is good, especially at the lower end of the market.  But, with fewer properties coming up for sale, it means property prices are proving reasonably stable too.

I believe a more stable, consistent property market, with less people seeing property as an easy way to make a quick buck (as many did in the early 2000’s when prices were rising at nearly 20% a year so people were buying & selling every other minute), but a local property market that has a steady growth of property values, year on year, without the massive peaks & troughs we saw in the late 1980’s & mid/late 2000’s might just be the thing that Rutland & Stamford needs in the long term.

For more insights, comments & facts on our local property market please visit the Rutland and Stamford Property Blog www.rutlandandstamfordpropertyblog.co.uk where you will find many similar articles to this.

 

Oakham tenants feel the squeeze as rents continue to rise

As my regular readers know, my passion is talking about Oakham property. As a property agent I like to comment on the Oakham property market, which I hope will be of interest to both homeowners and buy-to-let landlords alike.

However, this week, I want to highlight the plight of the tenants of Oakham as bit by bit their wages are being taken up by ever increasing rents.  The cost of renting a home in Oakham has broken through the £700 a month barrier as the average rent for a property in the town, now stands at £710 per month, a rise of 1.6 % last month, leaving rents for new lets 6.6% higher than they were 12 months ago.

House price inflation has certainly eased in Oakham from the heady days of 2014, but still with retail price inflation (for goods and services) reducing to 0% any increase in property values, no matter how small, means in real terms property is still getting more expensive.

Meanwhile, many tenants have given up saving for a mortgage deposit, as rents continue to take a bigger slice of their wage packets, leaving nothing to save for a deposit. That means, progressively more tenants are deciding to rent for the long term and, therefore, the desire for decent high quality rental properties continues to exceed the available rental stock.

I would go as far as to suggest that rents are an ideal barometer to the state of the local economy as a whole and strongly believe that the recent increase in Oakham rents are a sign that the Oakham economy is picking up. 

This means Oakham landlords are continuing to capitalise on the Oakham property market. The most recent Land Registry data suggests the annual property price rises in the town have eased over 2015, leaving property values only 4.85% higher than 12 months ago, so as property price growth is easing off, with the increased rents, rental yields are strengthening for the first time in years to compensate.

The mortgage market has become more stable after the mad months of May and June after the Tory’s got back into No.10, and so, everything is set to be good news for landlords; even with the Chancellor’s change of tax rules in the coming years for buy-to-let mortgages.  You can get some amazingly low mortgage rate deals at the moment, so with mortgage rates so low and returns still extraordinarily attractive, there’s rarely been a better time to invest in rental properties.

However, (you knew there would be a ‘however’!), it’s all about buying the right property at the right price. Not all property types are seeing equal rises in rents and capital growth.  Different parts of the town and different types of properties are experiencing quite different changes.

For example, the average length of time the 7 Oakham properties up for rent between £250 to £500 per month is 26 days, whilst the average length of time the 21 properties at £500 to £1000 per month is 30 days and 7 properties that fall into the £1000 to £2000 per month price bracket is 26 days. When you start comparing different parts of Oakham, the numbers are even stranger!  The bottom line is that you must take advice and opinion.

To discuss any potential buy-to-let properties currently on the market that have caught my eye, or if you have your own property to discuss, please contact me to arrange a suitable time for us to meet.  

I look forward to hearing from you.

Email me: David@upp-property.co.uk  or call me on 01572 725 825 / 01780 484 554