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

Could your Stamford property save you from PENSION OBLIVION?

If you were born in the early 1970’s or late 1960’s, and if you haven’t started to think about it yet, retirement is closer than you think. In fact, the number of years you have left to work is less than the number of years you have worked. The basic state pension is worth £115.95 a week for a single person in 2015/16 (or £6,029 a year) and £231.90 a week for a couple (£12,118 a year) as long as your partner has paid their ‘stamp’ or as we now call it ‘National Insurance’ (although there are certain ‘get out of jail’ cards if they haven’t). 

As a household, could you live on just over £12k a year?

However, could the Stamford property you are living in save you from retirement poverty?  You see, a regular retirement income is vital, and the bricks and mortar you own in Stamford could provide a way for you to finance life when you retire.

If you are in your 30’s, instead of saddling yourself with rising mortgages, going from your ‘first time buyer’ flat, to a terrace, to the semi and then the large detached house, you could instead keep your terrace or small semi, turning it into buy a buy- to-let property, let the rent pay the mortgage and then rely on capital growth to provide you with a lump sum when you sell the property and retire.  One of the biggest plus points of buy-to-let is what is known as leverage. Let me explain ... say you have a deposit of 25% and the value of the property rises by 3% a year, your gains in fact multiply to 12%.  However, if property prices drop, 'leverage' can be catastrophic, as losses will also be multiplied. Property values have dropped a number of times in the last 50 years, but they always seem to bounce back ... property must be seen as a long term investment.

Let me explain how leverage could work for you. If you had bought a Stamford house in the spring of 1983 for £35,000, using a 75% mortgage and 25% deposit, (meaning your deposit would be £8,750). Today, that Stamford property would have risen in value to £224,641, a rise of 541.8%. However, when you look at the growth on just your deposit, the rise is even better ... instead of 541.8%, we see a rise of 2467% (remembering that the mortgage would have been paid off).

However, buy-to-let is not all about capital growth.  In retirement, income is more important than capital growth, as monthly rent is the key to a steady income.

So surely the best strategy is to buy those Stamford properties with the high rents (when compared to the value of the property). These are called high yield properties in the buy-to-let world because the monthly return is so much greater. So surely they are the best in Stamford? Possibly, but the properties that offer these higher yields (in the order of 6% to 9% per year) tend to be in places such as the Essex Road area in Stamford.  Historically they haven’t offered such good capital growth when compared to the town average, have a higher tendency for void periods and such properties tend to attract tenants that have a greater propensity to be high maintenance.

Therefore, if a high maintenance rental portfolio wasn’t for you, another strategy could be buy a property with relatively smaller rental returns of 4% to 5% per year (i.e. lower yields), but in a more up-market area such as Tinwell Road / Roman Bank area. Properties such as these tend to suffer from less void periods (i.e. when there is no tenant in the property paying you rent) and they historically have had better long term capital growth when compared to the town average.

Every landlord is different and every property is different. All I suggest to you is do your homework.

As regular readers will know, I am happy to share my knowledge and experience of the Stamford property market; high yields, high capital growth, what to buy, what not to buy and where to buy in the Stamford Property market.

Please contact me via david@upp-property.co.uk or call me on 01780 484 554, and I will be happy to chat it all through with you.

This week's B2L deals...

Here are 3 more B2L properties on the market this week that look very interesting.  All very different in their offering, and indeed their price, but there are tenants out there for all 3 genres of property. 

1) King Edwards Way, Edith Weston-  £385,000 (UPP Property Agents)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36057582.html  

Currently let at £1,200pcm

Detached 3 bedroom cottage, close to Rutland Water.

Spacious family accommodation with no upwards chain.

This would make a cracking investment especially with the long term in mind as it would add capital value, give you the option to extend (stlpp) and would be a great family home should you want it back in a few years to live in yourself.

Detached Cottage

Three Bedrooms

Three Bath/Shower Rooms

Large Living Room

Spacious Kitchen/Breakfast Room

 

Contact Adrian McCarthy, UPP Property Agents
Tel:      01572 725 825
Email: Adrian.mccarthy@upp-property.co.uk




2) Hectors Way, Oakham - offers over £189,995 (Moores Estate Agents)
End terraced 3 bedroom town house style property, garage, garden, gas central heating.

A wonderful rental investment.  We manage a number of similar properties on the same development; they are always sought after by young families wanting a long term let and achieve £695pcm

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51736471.html

3) Tods Terrace, Uppingham - £129,950 (Gilbert & Thomas)
Mid terraced 2 double bedroom home with garden and outbuilding.

Literally a minutes walk from Uppingham town centre. Income c£500 - £525pcm, perfect for the young professional.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52725926.html

Or if you're interested in purchasing a different property in Rutland and Stamford, and would like my opinion on it, and a realistic rental valuation, please contact me on 01780 484 554 or email me: david@upp-property.co.uk

Langham Residents can thank the school for an average £6,400 windfall

I was having a chat with an Oakham property investor the other day, when he asked if schools, especially primary schools, affected the local property market in terms of demand from buyers and tenants to a property.

Anecdotally, I have always known this to be true, a good school creates good demand and good demand does affect house prices.



So, I asked my colleagues on the front line, who take the phone calls from people putting themselves on our mailing list and they confirmed that most people cite location as their number one factor.

After looking through our mailing list, it confirms there is a close correlation between the high demand areas of Oakham and the close proximity to a good primary school. Talking to my team in a recent morning meeting, they agreed many people would look to increase their budget quite significantly, whilst others would consider downgrading their property requirements to be close to a good primary school.

Those of you who regularly read this blog will know I like a challenge, so I decided to look at the science behind these assumptions. According to the SchoolGuide website, Langham Primary School is one of the best primary schools in Rutland. Its figures are certainly impressive. Their last Ofsted Report classified it as Outstanding, 72% of 11 year pupils achieving Level 4 or above in maths, reading and writing whilst 31% of them achieved level 5. There is also an excellent pupil/teacher ratio of 24:1. Finally, the schools’ KS2 rating was classed as good.

Looking at property sales within the catchment area of the school, property values have risen in value since 2002 by 35.2% whilst according the Land Registry, the Oakham average as a whole has risen in the same time frame by 33.4%.

That doesn’t sound a lot of difference, but when you apply that difference to the value of an average property in Langham, those extra few percentage points make over £6,400 difference in property price growth in Langham, when compared to the Rutland County average ... interesting, don’t you think?

However, whilst a good primary school significantly contributes more to house prices, the same can’t be said for secondary school. There are two reasons for this, firstly, as secondary schools are much larger, so their catchment areas are correspondingly much larger, meaning parents don’t need to live so close to the school. Secondly, in the UK, whilst the difference between the top 25% and bottom 25% of secondary schools is not insignificant, in the primary school sector, the difference between the top 25% and bottom 25% is, according to the London School of Economics, is considerably and significantly more.

Many other Oakham landlords, both who are with us and many who are with other  Oakham agents, like to pop in for a coffee or ring/email us to  discuss the Oakham property market, to consider how Oakham compares with its closest rivals and hopefully we can answer all their questions. You must take lots of advice and seek out the best opinion. 

If you have any questions, please contact me and I will be glad to offer you my honest, straight talking opinion.  I don't bite and I don't hard sell.

Email: david@upp-property.co.uk or call me on 01572 725 825