Posts with tag: Buy-to-Let

How much does a bad view devalue property prices?

Published On: January 19, 2017 at 11:21 am

Tags: Buy-to-Let,property,property prices,views

Interesting research has revealed how much having a bad view can devalue the price of a property.

The analysis from DirectBlinds.co.uk reveals that 56% of the population believe a house with a poor view will be worth less. 27% said that they would look to spend between £15,000 to £25,000 less on a property with a horrible view.

Views

What’s more, the research found that a poor view does not only affect the value of a property but can also impact on mood. 59% of those questioned said they would feel down due to a bad view.

The poll found that the three worst views are:

An industrial site (23%)

Derelict building (21%)

Motorway (15%)

Those in Edinburgh and in London however should not worry, with the survey finding these cities to have the best views in the UK. On the other hand, Birmingham was found to have the worst views, with 20% of respondents saying they were unhappy with theirs.

How much does a bad view devalue property prices?

David Roebuck, Managing Director of DirectBlinds.co.uk, said: ‘We were amazed to see how much a bad view could potentially affect what people are willing to pay for a property. The potential psychological effect is also concerning. Hopefully homeowners with terrible views will have some beautiful curtains or blinds to cover them up!’[1]

Favourites

Coming out of the city and into the country, it seems that the North is home to some of the best rural views. Lake Windermere was found to have favourite views, followed by the Yorkshire Dales and Ben Nevis.

The top 5 rural views were found to be:

Lake Windermere, Cumbria

Yorkshire Dales

Ben Nevis

The Cotswolds

Land’s End, Cornwall

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/how-much-could-a-bad-view-devalue-your-home-by.html

Could the North East lose thousands of cheap rental homes?

Published On: January 19, 2017 at 10:00 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,North East,property,renters

It has been estimated that up to 26,000 of the North East’s cheapest rental properties could be lost by 2020. One property campaigner in particular feels that this gives more evidence that renters should be given better deals.

Figures

Official Government figures released last week indicated that the number of affordable homes available at social rent in Britain fell by 120,000 between 2012 and 2016. This was largely as a result of Right to Buy.

Forecasts from the Chartered Institute of Housing predict that this number will rise to 250,000 by 2020-which will be an overall drop of 10%.

Should these figures be replicated in the North East, it would leave 25,951 less cheaper homes in the region. By area, this would be a reduction of:

Newcastle-3485

Sunderland-3240

North Tyneside-2494

South Tyneside-2120

County Durham-4500

Northumberland-2584

Could the North East lose thousands of cheap rental homes?

Deals

Ajay Jagota, founder of sales and lettings firm KIS, said on the figures: ‘This is yet more evidence of the burning need to give renters a better deal.’[1]

‘It’s no secret that there has been a long-term shift in the UK away from social housing towards the private rented sector. The problem is that the private rented sector hasn’t necessarily evolved to meet the needs of that demand. The biggest example of that is tenancy deposits, which place a huge financial burden on some of our poorest tenants – leaving good people left priced out of good homes rented from good landlords,’ he continued.[1]

Mr Jagota feels that: ‘The easiest way to help them would be to abolish tenancy deposits and for the industry to use sophisticated insurance policies instead. Such a move could save the average renter £1400 while actually protecting property investors assets more effectively.’[1]

‘The craziest thing is that the majority of social landlords do not take deposits, and they seem to manage perfectly well without relying on an out-dated and draconian deposit system. If privately rented homes are the future, why is the privately rented sector stuck in the past?’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/thousands-of-the-north-east%E2%80%99s-cheapest-rented-homes-to-be-lost-by-2020.html

Property prices rise by 3.3% year-on-year

Published On: January 18, 2017 at 10:12 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,house prices,property prices,tenants

A new report released by haart estate agents has shown that property prices throughout England and Wales fell by 1.6% during December. This resulted in an overall drop of 3.3% year-on-year, with the average property price at £224,991.

Demand

The investigation indicates that new buyer demand for homes slipped by 15.1% in December and is well down year-on-year, by 38.8%. What’s more, the number of homes coming onto the market declined by 16.7% in the month and by 7.5% in the year. Despite the decrease in stock, there has also been a decrease in the number of buyers. This meant there were nine buyers per instruction during December.

In addition, the market was more efficient in December, as transactions increased despite the number of viewings dropping. This means that buyers are looking at fewer properties before buying.

Purchase prices

Average purchase prices for first-time buyers rose during December, by 7.6%, but remain stable year-on-year. The rate of first-time buyers entering the market slipped by 17.3% month-on-month and by 44.7% in the year.

In London, the average price of a property slipped by 2.5% in the last month, leading annual growth to slip to 5.9%. The fall seen in December in the capital was greater than across the rest of England and Wales.

Property prices down by 3.3% year-on-year

Seasonal Slowdown

The number of tenants coming onto the market fell by 12% in December, but increased by 1.7% year-on-year. In London, the fall was more prominent, with falls of 20.2% in the month and by 65.1% annually.

Buy-to-let sales also fell in the month and in the year.

Paul Smith, CEO of haart, observed: ‘A slight jump in transactions in December is definitely very promising, pointing to a cohort who have stopped sitting on their hands, brushed off their Brexit uncertainty and started to move on with their lives. Our applicant activity in the period after Christmas to date is up 5% on the year, which when considering the pre-stamp duty rush in early 2016, is very impressive. If the economy remains sound, renewed interest should translate into higher transaction rates in 2017.’[1]

‘It is certainly time we all moved on. The idea of Article 50 holding up someone’s decision to buy or sell a home is ridiculous nearly a year on from the referendum, especially as the economy has remained so robust. Prices cooling down is a good thing for buyers – now is a great time for them to get a good deal,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/positivity-surrounding-brexit-boots-housing-market-sentiment.html

[1]

Buy-to-let activity down by 26% year-on-year

Published On: January 17, 2017 at 9:59 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: buy to let market,Buy-to-Let,landlords,property market,valuations

The latest research from Connells Survey & Valuation suggests that the buy-to-let sector is struggling.

Data from the report indicates valuations were down by 26% over the course of the last year, following a year full of significant legislative alterations.

Rises

Despite the slowdown seen in the buy-to-let sector, overall housing market activity during December 2016 was up by 8% on December 2015. What’s more, activity was 40% up from December 2014.

John Bagshaw, corporate services director of Connells Survey & Valuation, observed: ‘Looking back over the year, the market has regained a great deal of its strength with consumers’ confidence on the mend.’[1]

‘Rates are low and employment is high-that’s a great recipe for a healthy housing market. And the buy-to-let market’s loss has been owner-occupiers gain as those looking to get on the ladder or trade-up have been left facing less competition for the properties they want to buy,’ he added.[1]

Selling

Valuations for those selling property rose by 25% between December 2015 and December 2016. During the same period, valuation activity for those looking to remortgage rose by 19%.

Continuing, Bagshaw said: ‘The housing market has been recovering since September and had a great December. Compared to 2015 it looks good. Compared to December 2014 it looks exceptional. First-time buyers and people selling property have regained much of the confidence they lost in the wake of the Brexit vote.’[1]

Buy-to-let activity down by 26% year-on-year

‘With interest rates still at record lows, many buyers are taking the opportunity to buy property that would have been regarded as a bargain at that price just of a couple of years ago.’[1]

According to the report, the number of property sellers was up by 32% over the course of the year. In addition, remortgage activity was up by 68% as consumers have taken advantage of some very cheap mortgage deals.

Concluding, Mr Bagshaw noted: ‘Looking back over the year, the market has regained a great deal of its strength with consumers’ confidence on the mend. Rates are low and employment is high –that’s a great recipe for a healthy housing market.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/1/buy-to-let-markets-loss-has-been-owner-occupiers-gain

Rightmove sees improved traffic to start the year

Published On: January 16, 2017 at 1:05 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,investors,Rightmove,Stamp Duty

New data has revealed that the traffic to Rightmove’s website between Boxing Day and the end of the last week was up by 5% in comparison to the same period one year ago.

Full results will be provided when the firm reports to shareholders on its full year activity on February 24^th.

Optimism

The portal states that the surge in activity from Boxing Day bodes well for 2017 as a whole, with factors such as Brexit to come.

‘This increase in search activity is notable given that a year ago market activity was buoyed by the November announcement that second home stamp duty would apply from April 2016,’ the portal said.[1]

In all, there was a 0.4% rise in the typical asking price of a property coming onto the market during the last month. This is equivalent to a rise of £1,086. Meanwhile, asking prices improved by 3.2% over the whole of 2016.

Rightmove sees improved traffic to start the year

Momentum

Miles Shipside, Rightmove Director and housing market analyst, observed that the increases, ‘are indicators of the continued market momentum from the Autumn. Demand for a suitable home is such that visits to the Rightmove website are still up by 5% year-on-year, despite being compared to a period that was boosted by high demand from buy-to-let investors rushing to beat the stamp duty deadline.’[1]

Yearly comparisons for the first three months of 2017, when available, will allow for the distortion caused by April’s stamp duty deadline. Here, transactions were up by 40%, as investors rushed to beat the deadline.

Shipside went on to say: ‘Those planning to buy their first home in 2017 have more choice and less competition from other buyers than their counterparts a year ago. It’s a possible learning point for aspiring first-time buyers that a year ago, buy to let purchasers acted more quickly and closed deals at a faster rate, appearing not to take a Christmas break.’[1]

[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/1/rightmove-traffic-since-christmas-up-5-on-same-period-last-year

More landlords are favouring HMO conversions

Published On: January 16, 2017 at 11:17 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,HMO's,rental yields,tax

An interesting new report has revealed that a record number of buy-to-let landlords are converting their properties into HMOs. This is a direct result of the tax changes coming into force from April and has seen landlords try to increase their rental income.

Roma Finance said that they funded more conversion cases of this type during 2016 than in any other year.

Yields

The firm said that the rise in HMO conversions is due to the potential increase of yields from the larger property. In addition, they present a larger opportunity to rent more rooms out to tenants in towns and cities, particularly in areas with a large student and young professional population.

Despite this, the turnover of tenants in is usually higher in HMOs, while they normally require more work than single buy-to-let properties.

More landlords are favouring HMO conversions

Scott Marshall, managing director of Roma Finance, observed: ‘Recent Government policy has put the spotlight on the buy to let market and landlords have acted quickly to mitigate any negative effects on their income. Many want to retain property but maximise income and we have worked with many landlords to fund conversions to HMOs. One landlord we worked with calculated that in one of their properties they could rent out five rooms, vastly increasing income and yield, for just a £30,000 conversion cost. The increased rental income would cover the cost of the loan over twelve months. In this case it made a lot of sense to carry out the conversion.’[1]

‘Converting a single occupancy buy to let to HMO is one option for landlords and we have a number of cases already in the pipeline which will be funded in the coming weeks,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlords-ditching-buy-to-let-for-hmos.html