Bexley Borough Property News

On several occasions over the last few months, in my Bexley Property Blog, I predicted that the rate of rental inflation (i.e. how much rents are rising by) had eased over the last year. At the same time I felt that in some parts of the UK rents had actually dropped for the first time in over eight years. Recent research backs up this prediction. Rents in Bexley for new tenancies fell by 1.2% in the last 12 months ( i.e. not existing tenants experiencing rental increases from their existing landlord ). When we compare that current rate with the historical rental inflation in Bexley, an interesting pattern emerges. ·          2016 - Rental Inflation in Bexley was 7.7% ·          2015 - Rental Inflation in Bexley was 9.2% ·          2014 - Rental Inflation in Bexley was 9.4% The reason behind this change depends on which side of the demand/supply ...

In November 2015, George Osborne disclosed plans to restrain the buy-to-let (BTL) market, implying its growing attractiveness was leaving aspiring first time buyers contesting with landlords for the restricted number of properties on the market.  One of things he brought in was that tax relief on BTL mortgages would be capped, starting in April 2017.  Before April 2017, a private landlord could claim tax relief from their interest on their BTL mortgage at the rate they paid income tax – (i.e. 20% basic /40% higher rate and 45% additional rate). So, for example, let’s say we have a Bexley Borough landlord, a high rate tax payer who has a BTL investment where the rent is £900 a month and the mortgage is £600 per month.  In the tax year just gone (16/17), assuming no other costs or allowable items … • Annual rental income £10,800. • Taxable rental income would be £3600 after tax relief from mortgage relief • Meaning they would pay £1,440 in income tax on the rent...

Whilst doing my research for my many blog posts on the Bexley Borough Property Market, I know that a third of 25 to 30 year olds still live at home. It’s no wonder people are kicking out against buy to let landlords; as they are the greedy bad people who are cashing in on a social woe. In fact, most people believe the high increases in Bexley Borough (and the rest of the UK’s) house prices are the very reason owning a home is outside the grasp of these younger would-be property owners. However, the numbers tell a different story. Looking of the age of first time buyers since 1990, the statistics could be seen to pour cold water on the idea that younger people are being priced out of the housing market. In 1990, when data was first published, the average age of a first time buyer was 33, today it’s 31. Nevertheless, the average age doesn't tell the whole story. In the early 1990’s, 26.7% of first-time buyers were under 25, while in the last five years just 14.9% were. I...

There are 23.36 million properties in England and Wales with 64% being owner occupied and 36% being rented either from a private landlord, local authority or housing association. Over nine out of ten of those English and Welsh owner-occupied properties are a whole house or bungalow. Now, most people would assume they would be freehold - however, of those renting nearly half of rental properties, 44% to be precise, lived in other leasehold apartments and flats. It might be wise to quickly explain the difference between freehold and leasehold. When someone owns the freehold of a property they own it outright, including the land it is built on, whilst with a leasehold property the leaseholder owns the property for the length of their lease agreement. Leaseholders must pay the person who owns land (the freeholder) ground rent and other fees. When the leasehold ends, ownership returns to the freeholder although the leaseholder can extend the lease or they can buy the freeholder o...

According to the Land Registry's latest House Price Index for Bexleyheath and the surrounding locality, the value of apartments/flats are rising at a faster rate than terraced/town houses, semi-detached properties and even detached property. Values of apartments in Bexleyheath have increased by 7.26 % over the past year, which is proportionally 28% more than the Bexleyheath average rise of 5.66%. The last time flats/apartments in Bexleyheath out performed all the other types of property, by such a gulf, was back in the winter of 2004. For comparison, the other property types performed as follows:   ·          Detached homes rose by 5.32% ·          Semi-detached homes rose by 4.89% ·          Terraced/Town-Houses rose by 5.07% This moderately increasing rate of property value growth is opportune – but no one should confuse it with a strong and...

As more babies are being born to Bexley mothers, I believe this increase will continue to add pressure to the over stretched Bexley property market and materially affect the local property market in the years to come. On the back of eight years of ever incremental increasing birth rates, a significant 4.94 babies were born for every new home that was built in the Bexley council area in 2016.  I believe this has and will continue to exacerbate the Bexley housing shortage, meaning demand for housing, be it to buy or rent, has remained high.  The high birth rate has meant Bexley rents and Bexley property prices have remained resilient – even with the challenges the economy has felt over the last eight years, and they will continue to remain high in the years to come. This ratio of births to new homes has reach one of its highest levels since 1945 (back in the early 1970’s the average was only one and a half births for every household b...

This was a question posed to me a few weeks ago, after an interesting discussion with some clients about our mature members of Bexley society and the fact many retirees feel trapped in their homes. After working hard for many years and buying a home for themselves and their family, the children have subsequently flown the nest and now they are left to rattle around in a big house. Many feel trapped in their big homes (hence I have dubbed these Bexley home owning mature members of our society, ‘Generation Trapped’). So, should we force OAP Bexley homeowners to downsize? Well one view is that we, as a society, should encourage, through building, tax breaks and social acceptance that it’s a good thing to downsize. But should the Government force OAP’s? Well, one of the biggest reasons OAP’s move home is health (or lack of it). Looking at the statistics for Bexley (or DA5 to be precise), of the 4,040 homeowners who are 65 years and older, whilst 2,326 of them describ...