Bexley Borough Property News

As regular readers know, my passion is talking about Bexley Borough property. As a property agent, I like to comment on the property market, which I hope will be of interest to homeowners and buy-to-let landlords alike. This week, however, I am going to highlight the plight of our borough’s tenants, as more and more of their wages are being consumed by ever-increasing rents. The cost of renting a home in Bexley Borough has broken through the £1,500 a month barrier. The average rent for a property now stands at £1,560 per month, having risen 0.3% last month, making rents for new lets 7.5% higher than 12 months ago. With retail price inflation for goods and services reducing to 0%, any increase in property values, no matter how small, means that property is still getting more expensive in real terms. Meanwhile, many tenants have given up saving for a mortgage deposit as they are paying so much rent there is nothing left to save. Increasingly, tenants are deciding to rent long ter...

Here is a property which got my attention this morning. It came on with Able Estates yesterday and in my opinion it is very reasonably priced. This property would not only be appealing to someone who is looking for one ready to be let out but with a potential yield of 6.24% it is an attractive investment for those who seek healthy yields. It's a first floor, 2 bedroom flat being offered chain free for £165,000 and a similar property is on the market with an asking price of £10,000 more. In 2015 the average price achieved for a 2 bed flat in this development was £176,250 Being in close proximity to local shops, schools, and bus routes; finding a suitable tenant should be no hassle and with the rental demand so high you could be looking at £950 pcm in rent. Take into account the annual Service Charge of £1,100  that would net the Landlord a yield of 6.24%. It is on the market with Able Estates in Erith and if you’re interested then I wouldn't delay in giving them ...

When I was in school, many of my friends’ parents seemed to move every other year. What was really happening was that some actually moved two or three times before I left home. While they kept the removal van people in business, my research shows that things have changed considerably in Bexley Borough over the last few decades. For the removal van people, the trend is getting worse! There are 35,103 properties in the Bexleyheath and Crayford area. However, after we remove the 5,548 council houses, 3,435 privately rented houses and 288 rent-free houses we are left with 25,832 owned properties (outright, with a mortgage or with shared ownership). This means that 73.58% of the properties in Bexleyheath are owner-occupied (the national average is 64.2%) but just 638 people have sold and moved house over the last 12 months. These figures indicate that Bexleyheath homeowners move on average just every 40.5 years. Why? Well, firstly, the cost of moving has risen over the...

A Bexleyheath landlord rang me after reading the Bexley Borough Property Blog. He wanted to know more about current rents in the town, because his agent hadn’t increased his rent for a number of years and he was concerned to know if he was getting the best possible return from his buy to let investment. Like every other aspect of the economy, the rental market is all about supply and demand. On the supply side, 48 rental properties have come up for let in Bexleyheath in the last 31 days. That sounds a lot until you consider that there are 3,435 rental properties in the Bexleyheath area. Whereas normally about 5% of the rental stock of properties comes onto the market, it’s only about 1.39%! One reason why is the fact that tenants seem to be staying in properties longer. With this lack of supply, newer tenants have to pay more to secure the property they want. This is the crux of the matter: properties they want . Older properties in Bexleyheath that haven’t been maintaine...