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.