The Locks Heath Property Market continues to disregard the end of the world prophecies of a post Brexit fallout with a return to business as usual after the summer break.

The challenge every Locks Heath property buyer has faced over the last few years is a lack of choice – there simply hasn’t been much to choose from when buying (be it for investment or owner occupation). Levels are still well down on what would be considered healthy levels from earlier in this decade, as there is still a substantial demand/supply imbalance. Until we start to see consistent and steady increases in properties coming on to the market in Locks Heath, the market is likely to see upward pressure on property values continue.

However, there may be hope for first time buyers, with homeowners looking to move upmarket and buy to let Landlords looking for their next investment, the Locks Heath property supply crisis just might be starting to ease, as the number of new properties coming onto the market in Locks Heath has increased.

For example, in the last month or so, SO31 has seen an average of 128 new properties coming on to the market.  Not bad when you consider for some months in the last year the average has been in low 80’s. With the average Locks Heath property value hitting a record high, reaching almost £334,700 according to my research, this shortage of properties on the market over the last two years has contributed to this ‘fuller’ average property figure, but there is a glimmer of hope that the Locks Heath’s supply crisis may be starting to ease.

As I write this article, 2.31% of Locks Heath (or SO31 to be exact) properties are up for sale. In terms of actual chimney pots, that equates to 370 properties on the market in Locks Heath – which, when compared to only a year ago when that figure stood at 310, is a steady increase in the number of properties available to buy. Split down into the type of property, it makes even more fascinating reading…

• Detached Properties in SO31 – 138 on the market a year ago compared to 164 on the market now – an increase of 19%
• Semi Detached Properties in SO31 – 46 on the market a year ago compared to 54 on the market now – an increase of 17%
• Terraced Properties in SO31 – 11 on the market a year ago compared to 22 on the market now – an increase of 100%
• Flats / Apartments Properties in SO31 – 71 on the market a year ago compared to 89 on the market now – an increase of 25%

This is evidence of strength in the Locks Heath housing market that many didn’t expect. Many believed that the Locks Heath property market wasn’t going to be strong enough post Brexit – as what was a sellers’ market before the Brexit vote and Buyers’ market in the early months after it, may now be somewhere in between and the market might just be coming back into balance.

However, all this will mean property values won’t continue to grow at the same extent they have been over the last 12 to 18 months, and in some months (especially on the run up to Christmas and early in the New Year), values might dip slightly. This won’t be down to Brexit but a re-balancing of the Locks Heath Property Market – which is good news for everyone.

For more thoughts on the Locks Heath Property Market, please visit the The Locks Heath Property Blog

Back in the Spring there was a surge in Locks Heath Landlords buying buy to let property in Locks Heath as they tried to beat George Osborne’s new stamp duty changes which kicked in on the 1^st April 2016.  To give you an idea of the sort of numbers we are talking about, below are the property statistics for sales either side of the deadline in SO31.

Jan 2016 – 59 properties sold

Feb 2016 – 54 properties sold

March 2016 – 115 properties sold

April 2016 – 33 properties sold

May 2016 – 52 properties sold

Normally, the number of sales in the Spring months is very similar, irrespective of the month.  However, as you can see, this year was a completely different picture as Landlords moved their purchases forward to beat the stamp duty increase.  You would think that even with a basic knowledge of supply and demand economics, rents would be affected in a downwards direction?

However, there appears to be no apparent effect on the levels of rent being asked in Locks Heath, and more importantly achieved, and this direction of rents is not likely to reverse any time soon.  Particularly as legislation planned for 2017 might reduce rental stock and push property values ever upward.  The decline of buy to let mortgage interest tax relief will make some properties lossmaking, forcing Landlords to pass on costs to Tenants in the form of higher rents just to stay afloat.  Even those who can still operate may be deterred from making further investments, reducing rental stock at a time of severe property shortage.

… But it’s not all bad news for Tenants. Whilst average rents in Locks Heath since 2005 have increased by 22.6%, inflation has been 38.5% over the same time frame, meaning Locks Heath Tenants are 15.9% better off in real terms when it comes to their rent (which is a sizeable chunk of most people’s monthly household budgets).

I found it particularly interesting looking at the rent rises over the last five years in Locks Heath, as it was five years ago we started to see the very early green shoots of growth of the Locks Heath economy.  As a whole, following the Credit crunch (2011), rents in Locks Heath have risen by an average of 2.4% a year – fascinating don’t you think?

The view I am trying to portray is that while renting is often portrayed as the unfavorable alternative to home ownership, many young Locks Heath professionals like renting as it gives them adaptability with their life.  Rents will continue to rise which is good news for Landlords as buy to let is an investment but, as can be seen from the statistics, Tenants have also had a good deal with below-inflation increases in rents in the past.  It’s a win-win situation for everyone although, on another note, it’s imperative in the future that Tenants are not thwarted from saving for a deposit by excessive rental hikes – there has to be a balance.

For more thoughts and opinions on the Locks Heath Property Market, if you are a Locks Heath Homeowner or Locks Heath Landlord, please visit the The Locks Heath Property Blog.

I was having an interesting chat the other day with a Locks Heath landlord. We got talking about the Locks Heath Property Market and this landlord brought up the subject of a report he had read from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that stated that almost 1.8m new rental homes are needed by 2025 to keep up with current demand from tenants. He wanted to know what this meant for Locks Heath.

Well my blog reading friends, some commentators said last Winter that buy to let was about to die, what with the new stamp duty changes and how mortgage tax relief will be calculated.  Others even said 500,000 rental properties would flood the market nationally in the 12 months after the new Stamp Duty rules came into force on the 1st April 2016 as landlords left the rental market.  Well, all I can say is, I wish all the landlords of those half a million properties would hurry up and put them on the market – because I have plenty of other potential landlords wanting to buy them!

Back to the matter in hand; If the RICS and PwC are indeed correct, what does this mean for Locks Heath?  The fact is, as a country, we are facing a precarious rental shortage and need to get Locks Heath building in a way that benefits a cross-section of Locks Heath society, not just the fortunate few.  I call on the Prime Minister to drop the higher stamp duty tax on buy to let purchases to ease the pressure on the rental market.

Of the 18,600 households in Locks Heath (SO31), currently 5,100 tenants live in 2,300 private rented properties.  If we apportion those 1.8m households equally around the Country, that means in nine years’ time, the number of rental properties in Locks Heath needs to rise by 1,000 (i.e. 42.8%)… taking the total number of rented properties in the area to 3,300.

That means Locks Heath landlords need to buy around 100 properties a year between now and 2025 to meet that demand.  Because according to my calculations, an additional 2,200 people will want to live in all those ‘additional’ Locks Heath rental properties – so why is the government penalising landlords?

Thankfully the new housing minister Gavin Barwell detached Teresa May’s new administration from the Cameron/Osborne laser-like focus of just home ownership to solve our housing issues, saying “we need to build more homes for every single type of person needing a home and not focus on one single tenure”.  The private rented sector became a stooge under David Cameron’s watch and still, with increasingly unaffordable Locks Heath house prices, the majority of new Locks Heath households will be relying on the rental sector in the future to house them.  I can only say Westminster must put in place the measures that will allow the rental sector to flourish.  Any restrictions on the supply of rental property will push up rents (bad news for tenants), thus side-lining those members of Locks Heath society who are already struggling.  Let’s hope this new Government continues to see the contribution landlords give to the country as a whole.

As I am sure you are aware, I am always happy to cast my eye over any potential buy to let purchase in Locks Heath or surrounding areas, be that you emailing me a Rightmove link, a brochure in the post or even treading the carpet and seeing it together.  I don’t charge for that, and you don’t even need to be a client of mine.