Bexley Borough Property News

Renting was a dirty word in the 60s and 70s. You either lived in a “Rigsby Rising Damp” style bedsit with wood chip on the wall and a coin-operated electric meter (that buzzed in the night), or you lived in a council house. In the latter part of the 20 th century, the British believed that rent payments were “wasted money”. However, nowadays owning often makes less financial sense than renting. Everyone is doing it now, and the rate of homeownership is starting to drop substantially. The stigma that there was once is gone. In fact, of the 283,134 residents of Bexley, 71,088 of us rent from either the local authority/social provider (i.e. the council or a housing association) or private landlords. That means that 25.10% of Bexley people are tenants. The idea of homeownership is deeply embedded in the British soul. 208,009 (73.46%). Bexley people live in an owner-occupied property. Housing is at the heart of government policy, as they have promised 200,000 new properties a year so ...

A few months ago, I was grabbing a quick bite to eat from Melucci’s in Bexley Village when a suited gentleman approached and asked if I am the person who writes the newsletters about the Bexley Borough property market. We ended up having an interesting chat about the local property market, as he was concerned that his daughter would never be able to buy a place in Bexleyheath she can call home. Using the Land Registry and Office of National Statistics, I have done some research that shows that overall, month on month, Bexleyheath property values increased by 1.2%. The year on year figures demonstrate that the value of residential property in Bexleyheath has increased by 13.3% in the year to the end of February 2016, taking the average value of a property in the council area to £323,700. When we look at the last few months’ figures and see the patterns that seem to be emerging, things get even more interesting: ·          January 201...

Back in November, the Office of National Statistics stated that average wages rose by 1.8% year on year. When adjusted for inflation, Bexley people are 1.5% better off in “real” terms. That’s great news for homeowners, as their mortgage rates are at their lowest ever and their spending power is increasing. For tenants, however, the news is not so good. T he average rent that tenants have to pay for private rental properties in Bexley Borough (i.e. not housing association or council tenants) rose by 3.8% throughout 2015, eating into most of the growth. And 2015 wasn’t a one off. In 2014, rents in Bexley Borough rose by 3.0% (while salaries only rose by 0.2%) It’s not all bad news for Bexley tenants, because in 2013 rents rose by 2.5%, but salaries by 2.2%. It is noteworthy that the private rents Bexley tenants pay are only 27.6% higher than in 2005. That means that they are not even keeping up with inflation, which rose by 27.8% during the same period (although salaries rose by...