43% Drop in Rutland Properties For Sale Compared to 10 Years Ago

There is good news for local landlords as ‘top of the range’ well-presented properties are getting really decent rents compared to a year ago.  However, this rise in rents is thwarting many potential first time buyers from saving for a deposit and saving in general.  In addition, there is also a shortage of homes coming on the market thus adding to the slowdown and affecting not just first time buyers but also those moving up the housing ladder.

Whilst it is true that the government’s initiatives targeted at improving the supply of homes built and helping first time buyers obtaining necessary funding are slowly starting to take effect), I also believe that to boost more properties onto the market, we need to see a better focus on those looking to downsize.

Incentives such as removing stamp duty for those downsizers (as was done for first- time buyers last year), together with encouraging even more first-time buyers with 100% mortgages to buy the smaller properties, would in turn release more mid-range properties onto the market.  In turn, this would encourage more mature homeowners to downsize and buy those mid-range properties - thus completing the circle. 

Rutland property values and transactions continue to be sluggish, and the monthly peaks and troughs of house prices and properties changing hands doesn’t mask the deficiency of suitable realistically priced property coming onto the Rutland property market, meaning the housing market is slowly becoming inaccessible to some.

 

Referring back to research for early summer 2008, at that time 168 properties were on the Rutland property market for sale, whereas today, there are only 95 properties for sale – that’s a drop of 43%.  And, in the last 6 months, only 313 Rutland homes changed hands.

The government needs to seriously consider the supply and demand of the UK property market as a whole to ensure it doesn’t seize up. It needs to do that with bold and forward-thinking plans but, in the meantime, people still need a roof over their head, so as local authorities don’t have the cash to build new houses anymore, it’s the job of landlords to take up the slack. I must stress though, I have noticed a distinct ‘flight to quality’ by local tenants, who are prepared to pay more for an exceptional home to rent.