1,147 Rushcliffe Properties lie empty– An injustice for the 533 people on the Rushcliffe Council House Waiting List?

Easy problems should have easy solutions  - shouldn’t they?

Problems like Bingham’s housing crisis, where we have a rudimentary numerical problem of too few homes for too many people ... the answer is clearly to build more property in Bingham - but that, unfortunately for those desperately seeking to purchase or let a property, takes a lot of time and huge amounts of money. So what of other solutions?

The most recent set of figures from 2015 state there are 1,147 empty homes in the Rushcliffe Borough Council area. So it begs the question ... why not put them back onto the system and help ease the Bingham housing crisis? Whilst they stand empty, 533 Rushcliffe households (not people – households) are on the Council House Waiting List for council houses. Surely, we can undoubtedly all agree that property left empty for years and years isn’t morally right with the burgeoning Council House Waiting List, not to also mention the issue of homelessness.

But a different story emerges when you look deeper into the numbers. Of those 1,147 homes lying empty, only 369 properties were empty for more than six months. The local authority has to report a property being empty, even if its for a week. So many of the Bingham properties are either awaiting new homeowners or, in the case of rental properties, new tenants. Also most certainly, some properties are being refurbished and renovated, while others properties have homeowners who are anxious to sell but cannot find a buyer.

The fact is that the number of genuinely long term empty properties is only a tiny drop in the ocean of the 45,835 properties in the area covered by Rushcliffe Borough Council and, even if every one of those empty homes were filled with happy cheerful tenants tomorrow, it would only meet a small fraction of Bingham housing needs.

So what does this mean for all the homeowners and landlords of Bingham? Well it means with demand being so high, especially for rental properties, the certainty of the rental market growing is an inevitability because young people cannot buy and councils don’t have the money to build new council houses. This in turn bolsters property prices as landlords continue to buy at the lower end of the market (starter homes, etc), which in turn sustains the rest of the market as those sellers move up the property ladder, releasing others in turn to buy on again.

These are interesting times in the Bingham property market!

Bingham - Modern apartment with a garage - Great Investment Opportunity

***Update*** This has now been reduced to £139,950 and would easily let for £575 pcm which would see a potential return of 4.9%. This has been on the market with Frank Innes for a while now and is the type of property that would suit a professional person or couple. ***** 

This flat is a great potential investment property, its on the market for sale with Frank Innes for a shade under £ 150,000. It is located just off Mallow Way in Bingham.

It would achieve more pcm than many of the flats in Bingham as it comes with a garage, parking and a garden. If purchased for the asking price it would conservatively achieve a rental yield of around 4.6%.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41266875.html

Bingham, Brexit and Beyond

With a new PM and the matter of taking the country in to a Brexit era I have been asked many times this week what will this mean for the Bingham housing market.

Theresa May stated in her Keynote speech a few days before she was confirmed as the new PM -

“We need to make our economy work for everyone – which is by giving people more opportunity”

She went on to say “It is also why housing matters so much and why we need to do far more to get more houses built. Because unless we deal with the housing deficit, we will see house prices keep on rising.”

I was really pleased to hear her spell this out as this is exactly what Bingham needs. The current demand from tenants is so high it is pushing up prices we can achieve for a rental property. There are so few properties available that are in good order that we have a long list of people waiting for houses.

It doesn’t matter which way you voted in the last general election  – with the slow pace of new building since 2008 there has been little new housing available for those getting old enough to set up home and with more people living longer in their homes it puts a squeeze on the property that is in the town. This is a fact we can not ignore. 

I do think Brexit is a concern for those in London as house prices are over the top and rely on overseas investment. In Bingham we rely on the demand from families looking for a good base to raise a family and commute to work. The town offers that. With the demand for housing ever increasing and not enough new property being built for many years I don’t think Bingham will see a drop in house prices.

Lets hope Mrs May does not get distracted by Brexit bickering and can find the time to progress matters at home and keep the economy growing. If lending continues as promised by the major banks then I believe the property market in Bingham will continue to see house prices rising.

In Bingham there are still people looking to invest in property. It is a market town that is ready for future development and its location ensures that there will always be access to a jobs market. I believe it will continue to see capital growth and as long as you do your research before purchasing a property you should see consistent yields as well as long term growth of your investment.

In summary Brexit may affect the property market for a short time but the numbers of people needing housing and the numbers being built can only mean one thing – demand will continue to out strip supply. And while that is the case property investment is still a good option for many people.

3 Bed Family Home in Lovely Lowdham - 5% Yield

This 3 bedroom semi detached home is located in the delightful village of Lowdham.  A popular choice with families and professionals, with a primary school and many amenities.  The village is great for commuters too, who are wishing for a quiet community location, but with easy access to Nottingham.  

The property is being marketed currently at an asking price of £174,950 and so should see a healthy rental return of over 5%.

See full details here:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37775421.html

      

120% Increase in Property Values in Bingham Since the Millennium

Bingham house prices since the Millennium have risen by 120.52%, whilst average salaries in Bingham have only grown by 51.27% over the same time frame. This has served to push homeownership further out of reach for many Bingham people as they have to battle against raising considerable deposits and meet sterner lending criteria, as a result of new mortgage regulations introduced in 2014/5.  

The private rental market in Bingham has grown throughout the last twenty years with buy-to-let investors purchasing a high proportion of newly built residential properties that were built and designed for the owner occupier sales markets.  For example, in the Newark Constituency, roll the clock back 20 years and there were 36,541 properties in the Constituency, whilst the most recent set of figures show there are 41,691 properties - a growth of 5,150 properties.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that a large majority of those 5,150 were bought by Bingham buy-to-let landlords, as over the same 20-year time frame, the number of rental properties has grown from 3,138 to 5,430 in the Constituency - a rise of 2,292 properties.

Nevertheless, some say this historic growth of the Bingham rental market might start to change with the new tax rules for landlords introduced by Mr. Osborne over the last seven or eight months. Yet the numbers tell another story. Across the board, mortgage borrowing climbed to a 9 year high in March this year as the British property markets traditional Easter rush corresponded with landlords hurrying to beat George Osborne’s new stamp duty changes – buy-to-let landlords borrowed £7.1bn in March 2016 (the latest set of figures released) which was 163% up on the £2.7bn borrowed in the previous March.

You see, from my point of view, I don’t think things will get worse in the buy-to-let market in Bingham and these are the reasons why I believe that:

Firstly, what else are Bingham landlords going to invest in if it isn’t property - the stock market? Since the Millennium, the stock market has risen by an unimpressive total of 5.54%, quite different to the 120.52 % rise in Bingham property prices?

Secondly, its true the 3% stamp duty is the first blow on top of a number of other tax changes to be phased in between 2017 and 2021, such as landlords facing a constraint in their ability to offset mortgage interest and, if sizeable numbers of landlords do take the decision to sell their portfolios, this will lead to a substantial amount of second hand properties being put up for sale. Yet that might not be a bad thing, as I have mentioned in previous articles there is a serious shortage of properties to buy at the moment in Bingham: the stock of property for sale being at a six year all time low.

.. Thirdly, if there are fewer rental properties in Bingham, as supply drops and demand remains the same (although ask any letting agent in Bingham and they will say demand is constantly rising) this will create a squeeze in the Bingham rental market and as a result rents will rise. In fact, I predict even if landlords don’t sell up, Bingham rents will rise as Bingham landlords seek to compensate for increased costs, which means more landlords will be attracted back.

Lovely 2 Bed on Cropton Grove, Bingham - Potential 5.2% Yield

This is a great example of these popular properties in Bingham.

Having been refurbished and decorated to a good standard, it would let very easily.  On with Rex Gooding at an asking price of £150k, it should achieve around £650 pcm, giving the landlord at least a 5% return on their investment.

Have a look at the photos and full details here:  http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60352517.html

View it today as this will not be around for long!

113 days to find a buyer for your Bingham Property

I had a Landlord from The Banks email me the other day. She said she had been following my blog (the Bingham Property Market Blog) for a while and wanted to pick my brain on when is the best time of the year to sell a property.

If you are putting your property on the market, you don’t know how long it will take to find a buyer - no crystal ball to help with that one. At the moment, the latest set of figures for all 6 estate agents in Bingham, show the average length of time it takes to find a buyer for any Bingham property is as follows ..

Detached                    136 days

Semi                              57 days

Terraced                       98 days

Flat                              114 days

Overall average          113 days

If we roll the clock back to January 2016, the overall average time it took to find a buyer (again using data from all of the 6 Bingham Estate Agents) was 106 days.

So, on the face of it, things haven’t changed much over the last six months or so. Well, when I looked at the data going back to 2008, and every Spring since then, the average length of time it takes to sell a property usually drops between January and the Summer months, for it to rise on the run up to Christmas. For example ..

Winter 2008 - 158 days           Summer 2008  - 125 days

and in more recent times …

Winter 2013 - 173 days           Summer 2013  - 170 days

Winter 2014 - 119 days           Summer 2014  -   88 days

Winter 2015 - 109 days           Summer 2015  -   79 days

           

Coming back to the present, even if you placed your property on the market today in Bingham, if it takes you on average a little over sixteen weeks to find a buyer, then you can expect solicitors and the chain to take an additional eight and twelve weeks after that, before you move. It comes down to personal choice as to when you place your property on the market. Children often affect the decision. On one side you might delay putting that for sale board in your front garden so you can move in the summer school holidays, but on the other side, you might want to move sooner to be in the catchment area of a preferred school, in plenty of time for the next academic year?

There are times of the year when it's better to sell, and times when waiting a little longer can pay off in the long run. In a nutshell, I would say this is the way of the seasons ..

WHEN THE MARKET?

Spring: Customarily there are more house-buyers as the Daffodils show themselves

Summer: Sellers may miss out on house-buyers being on holiday

Autumn: The enthusiasm for buying homes returns

Winter: Interest diminishes as festive period looms 

What this means to buyers and landlord investors is that they often pick up a bargain in later months of the year, as there is less competition from owner occupiers. So, whilst there are better months to achieve a quicker sale, the only piece of advice I can give to every home  owner and landlord in Bingham, is do the right thing for yourself, do your homework and buy (and sell) with both your head as well as your heart.