Bexley Borough Property News

  Following a tumultuous few months, the Bank of England has had to make the biggest interest rate increase in decades. The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has had to increase the base rate by a staggering 0.75% to 3% in an ongoing attempt to curb rising inflation levels. This is the largest increase in the base rate since 1989. As it stands today, inflation is at 10.1% which is five times the Bank of England’s target of 2%. This dire economic situation is likely to impact many people in Bexley through increased mortgage payments which have been fuelled by the cost of living crisis and the impacts of the Russian war against Ukraine. Let’s not also forget that the current financial situation initially stemmed from the impact of the pandemic since the government had to borrow a lot of money to support businesses through the furlough scheme and to help the economy stay afloat. What Will Happen to Mortgage Rates? It depends on the type of mortgage that you have, but for...

Bexley is a fantastic place for families, retired couples or those wishing to travel or commute into London or further afield. It is situated 14 miles south east from the centre of London sitting on the border with the rolling hills of Kent. It is one of the greenest London boroughs with over 100 parks, as well as a walking route along the River Thames. It is hardy surprising that first-time buyers and families have chosen to settle in the area long-term. Although Bexley offers a village feel, it is very well connected with Greenwich, Bromley and Dartford nearby, with excellent rail, road and bus links into London. The average train time from Bexley to central London is just 38 minutes with its main line station linking London Bridge, London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street. Alternatively, if you are travelling by car, the A20 and A2 run through the centre of the borough before joining up to travel directly into Canary Wharf and towards the City. Overall safety and reasonable hou...

  Autumn is well and truly underway, with summer a distant memory! And with autumn comes Halloween a perfect opportunity to get out with you partner, friends or children. Whether its wholesome family fun on a pumpkin patch, a spooky Halloween event, this is what’s on in and around Bexley and Sidcup area this Halloween. Across the Motown Trax Halloween Party | 29 th October 7.30pm | Lord Hill, 40 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7QG Party Monsters Halloween Party | 24 th October 10.30 | The Montrose Park Club, 158 Hurst Road, Sidcup, DA15 9AJ Halloween Garden Trail | Throughout October | Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent DA5 1PQ Pumpkin Picking | 22 nd October | Nursery Avenue, Bexleyheath, DA7 4JY Pumpkin Patch | Starts from 7 th October |Beck Evans Farm, Water Lane, Sidcup, DA14 5ET Halloween Spooky Party | 28 th October 5pm |Clockhouse Community Centre Association, London SE18 5QL Charlton House Halloween Ghost Hunt | 28 th October 9.30pm | Charl...

    With inflation at an all-time high, interest rates going up, and the cost of living rapidly rising at the quickest rate in 40 years, it is a wonder whether now is the right time to buy a house. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the average UK house price went up by 15.5% over the year to July 2022. It was reported that this is the highest annual property price increase rate in the UK since 2003. The ONS attributes this mainly to the stamp duty holiday last year in 2021. With this said, as of 23rd September 2022, the government introduced another stamp duty holiday in an attempt to boost activity in the housing market. How has stamp duty changed? First-time buyers do not need to pay stamp duty on the first £425,000 of a property purchase price, an increase on the original £300,000 threshold. Discounted stamp duty for first-time buyers will apply up to £625,000, an increase from the previous £500,000. Other buyers will not need to pay stamp duty on proper...

  In some ways the mini budget unveiled by newly appointed Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, looked positive for the housing market. When you delve into the details of it, and the long-term economic effects of the budget, you may find yourself feeling slightly conflicted at whether now is a good time to buy or sell your home. This latest budget is based on the assumption that the tax cuts will produce positive economic growth. How does it affect the housing market though?  Stamp duty changes were one of the standout points from the mini budget. Most noticeably, for first time buyers there is a sizeable cut to stamp duty, meaning the limit is now almost double what it previously was. The new stamp duty threshold for first time buyers has increased to £425,000 from £250,000.  Additionally, those first-time buyers with a bigger budget, will be able to claim a tax relief on the first £625,000 of their new home. This is a permanent move that will see approximately 200,000 home buyers...

Beast from the East, Russia, Facebook, Brexit, Trump, House prices up, House prices down ... the Press is full of column inches on Brit’s favourite subjects of politics, scandal, weather and not forgetting (and I appreciate the irony of this!) the property market. As an agent belonging a national group of letting and estate agents, talking to my fellow property professionals from around the UK, the one thing that is immediately apparent is the UK does not have one property market. It is a hodgepodge patchwork (almost like a fly’s eye) of lots of small property markets all performing in different ways. … And that made me think … is there just one Bexley Borough Property Market or many? I like to keep an eye on the property market in Bexley Borough on a daily basis because it enables me to give the best advice and opinion on what (or not) to buy in Bexley Borough, be that a buy-to-let property for a landlord or an owner occupier house for a home owner.  So, I thought, how cou...

As I have mentioned a number times in my local property market blog, with not enough new-build properties being built in Bexley Borough area to keep up with demand for homes to live in (be that tenants or homebuyers), it’s good to know more Bexley Borough home sellers are putting their properties on to the market than a year ago. At the start of 2007 there were 84 properties for sale in Bexleyheath (DA6) but by May 2008, when the credit crunch was really beginning to bite, that number had risen to 162 properties on the market at a time when demand was at an all-time low, thus creating an imbalance in the local property market. Basic economics dictates that if there is too much supply of something and demand is poor (which it was in the Credit Crunch years of 2008/9) … prices will drop. In fact, house prices dropped between 15% and 20% depending on the type of Bexleyheath property between the end of 2007 and Spring 2009. However, over the last five years, we have seen a steady ...

The value of all the homes in Bexleyheath has risen by more than 290% in the past two decades, to £3.510bn, meaning its worth more than the stock listed company Ocado Group, which is worth £3.421bn. Those Bexleyheath homeowners and Buy-to-Let landlords who bought their homes twenty or more years ago have come out on top, adding thousands and thousands of pounds to the value of their own Bexleyheath homes as the younger generation in Bexleyheath continue to be priced out of the market.  This is even more remarkable because, in those twenty years, we had the years of 2008 and 2009 following the global financial crisis, where we saw a short term drop in Bexleyheath house prices of between 15% and 20% (depending on the type of property). And although there have been a number of consecutive years of growth in property values recently in Bexleyheath it hasn’t been anywhere near the levels seen in the early 2000’s. Twenty years ago, the total value of Bexleyheath property was wort...

Buying and selling a home in Bexley isn’t the easiest or cheapest thing you will ever do. Estate Agent fees, Solicitors fees, Survey fees, Mortgage fees, Removal Van … the costs just mount up throughout every step of the move. Last week, a Bexley landlord asked me whether the Council Tax Band made a difference to a property’s appeal, be it tenanted or to owner occupiers, when it comes to being sold on the open market and whether extensions or improvements made a difference to the tax banding? Well, like I said, the first point you should always be aware of is what Council Tax Band your new house or apartment will fall under. Being aware of this before you buy/move will help when planning month by month for life in your home (or investment). But what exactly are Council Tax Bands, and how do they affect landlords/tenants/homebuyers? How much Council Tax you pay depends on two variables. The first is which Council Tax Band your property is in. A property is placed into a specific ...

The degree to which young Bexley people are locked out of the Bexley housing market has been revealed in new statistics. A Bexley landlord was asking me the other week to what effect homeownership rates in Bexley in the early to middle aged adult age range had affected the demand for rental property in Bexley since the Millennium. I knew anecdotally that it affected the Bexley rental market, but I wanted some cold hard numbers to back it up. As you know, I like a challenge when it comes to the stats.. so this is what I found out for the landlord, and I’d like to share them with you as well. As anyone in Bexley, and most would say those born more recently, are drastically less likely to own their own home at a given age than those born a decade earlier, let’s roll the clock back to the Millennium and compare the figures from then to today. In the year 2000, 58.5% of Bexley 28-year olds (born in 1972) owned their own home, whilst a 28 year old today born in 1990) would have a 31...

A little bit of good news this week on the Bexley Borough Property Market as recently released data shows that the number of first time buyers taking out their first mortgage in 2017 increased more than in any other year since the global financial crisis in 2009. The data shows there were 151 first time buyers in Bexleyheath, the largest number since 2006. I expect in 2018 that this increase of first time buyers will level out and maybe dip slightly as, nationally, figures demonstrate that first time buyer’s average household income was £40,691 and this represented 17.3% of their take home pay. Although, it might surprise readers that it is actually cheaper to buy than it is to rent at the ‘starter home’ end of the housing market. Many of you can remember mortgage rates at 12% ... even 15%. Today, at the time of writing this article, I found on the open market, 189 first time buyer mortgages at 95% (meaning only a 5% deposit was required) with 3 year fixed rates from a reputable H...

As our families grow bigger the need for more space, be that bedrooms or reception rooms, has grown with it. Also, as our older generation lives longer and nursing home bills continue to rise quicker than a rocket on the 5th of November  (the average nursing home bill in the area being £862.50 per week) many families are bringing two households into one larger one. So, should you move somewhere larger, or extend your Bexleyheath property to make it large enough for you and your family? In some circumstances the choice has been made for you. If you live in an apartment with no garden, there isn’t much of an opportunity of making it larger. But if you have a house with a garden or an attic with sufficient headroom, extending your home becomes a real prospect. Even if it makes more sense to extend or move, the choice hangs on a number of different dynamics – your future plans, money (both saved and access to finance), in what way you are emotionally attached to your home, the p...

According to the National House Building Council (NHBC), more than 17,800 new homes were registered to be built in London last year, an increase of 1.5% on 2016 levels of 17,500 dwellings. Great news when you consider it is one of the highest number of new builds in the region since the pre-recession levels of the Credit Crunch and the uncertainty of Brexit and the General Election. So, when a landlord recently asked me why the brand-new property she was considering buying was a lot more expensive compared to a second-hand/existing property of similar type, accommodation, location and structure I thought this would make a fascinating topic to do some homework on … homework I want to share with the homeowners and landlords of Bexley. You might believe that the difference between purchasing a new build home against purchasing a second-hand/existing home is just individual preference. Some buyers/tenants like the ostentatious trendy modern feel of a new home, whilst others like a h...