Bexley Borough Property News

It’s now been a good 18/24 months since annual rental price inflation in Bexleyheath peaked at 4.3%. Since then we have seen increasingly more humble rent increases. In fact, in certain parts of the Bexleyheath rental market over the autumn, the rental market saw some slight falls in rents. So, could this be the earliest indication that the trend of high rent increases seen over the last few years, may now be starting to buck that trend? Well, possibly in the short term, but in the coming few years, it is my opinion Bexleyheath rents will regain their upward trend and continue to increase as demand for Bexleyheath rental property will outstrip supply, and this is why. The only counterbalance to that improved rental growth would be to meaningfully increase rental stock (i.e. the number of rental properties in Bexleyheath). However, because of the Government’s new taxes on landlords being introduced between 2017 and 2021, that means buy-to-let has (and will) be less attracti...

Bexley homeowners will be among those affected by the latest rise in the Bank of England interest rates. The first increase in 10 years, they have just been raised from 0.25 to 0.5 percent. This uplift comes as inflation hits a 51-month high of 2.9 percent, whilst the national unemployment rate is at an all-time low of 4.3 percent. Interestingly, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Carney, has indicated that the interest rate is likely to increase again over the next couple of years, but that mortgages and savings would not be affected in the short term. However, if you look at all the big banks, you’ll see that most have increased their standard variable mortgage rate.  The average Bexley mortgage is £155,848 By how much will Bexley homeowners (on variable rate or tracker mortgages) see their repayments increase? In the DA5 postcode, there are 3,615 homeowners with a mortgage, of whom 1,553 have a variable rate mortgage (the remaining have fixed rate mortgages). The...

I had a most interesting conversation the other day with a local Bexley accountant, who asked me about my articles on the Bexley Borough property market. It was quite humbling to be praised by such a professional, who commented enthusiastically on them! He was particularly interested in my graphs, facts, and figures; so much so he recommended his clients read them, as most of them were either Bexley Borough homeowners or landlords, and often both. However, one question that kept me on my toes was, “ With so many house price indices, how do you know which one to use, and how can you calculate what is exactly happening in Bexley Borough? ” To start with, there are indeed a great number of these indices, including the Land Registry, Office of National Stats, Halifax, Nationwide, and LSL. The issue occurs when these different indices give diverse pictures of the state of the UK housing market. Whilst some measure the average value of every property in the UK (sold or unsold), other...

As the winter months draw in and the temperature starts to drop, keeping one’s home warm is vital. Yet, with the price of gas and electricity rising quicker than a Saturn V rocket, and gas, oil, and electricity costing on average 4.4% of a typical Brit’s pay packet (for Brits earning the lowest 10%, that rockets to an eye watering 9.7%), keeping your energy costs as low as possible is vital for the household budget and the environment, whether you are a tenant or a homeowner. For the last 10 years, every private rental property must have an Energy-Performance-Certificate (EPC) rating.  The property is given an energy rating, very similar to those on washing machines and fridges with the rainbow coloured graph, of between A to G (A being the most efficient and G the worst). In spring 2018, new legislation comes into force for English and Welsh private landlords, making it illegal to let a property that does not meet a certain energy rating. As of April 1st, any new tenant mov...

In the credit crunch of 2008/9 the rate of home moving plunged to its lowest level ever. In 2009 the rate at which a typical house would change hands slumped to only once every 31 years. The biggest reason being that confidence was low and many homeowners didn’t want to sell their home as Bexley property prices plunged after the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. However, since 2009, the rate of home moving has increased (see the table and graph below), meaning today: The average period of time between home moves in Bexley is now 20 years. This is an increase of 53.54 per cent between the credit crunch fallout year of 2009 and today, but still it is a 41.80 per cent drop in moves by homeowners, compared to 15 years ago (The Noughties). Average Length of Time (In Years) between Home Moves in the Bexley London Borough Council Area 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 19....