It might surprise you that it isn’t always the poshest villages around the Fareham Borough or the swankiest Locks Heath streets where properties sell and let the quickest. Quite often, it is the ones that have the best transport links.  I mean, there is a reason why one of the most popular property programmes on television is called Location, Location, Location!

As an agent in Locks Heath, I am frequently confronted with queries about the Locks Heath property market, and most days I am asked “What is the best part of Locks Heath and the surrounding villages to live in these days?”.  Now the answer is different for each person – a lot depends on the demographics of their family, their age, schooling requirements and interests etc. Nonetheless, one of the principal necessities for most tenants and buyers is ease of access to transport links, including public transport – of which the railways are very important.

Official figures recently released state that, in total, 955 people jump on a train each and every day from Swanwick Train station.  Of those, 475 are season ticket holders.  That’s a lot of money being spent when a season ticket, standard class, to London is £5,424 a year.

So, if up to £2.58m is being spent on rail season tickets each year from Swanwick, those commuters must have some impressive jobs and incomes to allow them to afford that season ticket in the first place.  That means demand for middle to upper market properties remains strong in Locks Heath and the surrounding area and so, in turn, these are the type of people who are happy to invest in the Locks Heath buy to let market – providing homes for the Tenants of Locks Heath.

The bottom line is that property values in Locks Heath would be much lower if it wasn’t for the proximity of the railway station and the people it serves in the suburb

And this isn’t a flash in the pan.  Rail is becoming increasingly important as the costs associated with car travel continue to rise and roads are becoming more and more congested.  This has resulted in a huge surge in rail travel.

Overall usage of the station at Swanwick has increased over the last 20 years.  In 1997, a total of 246,319 people went through the barriers or connected with another train at the station in that 12-month period.  However, in 2016, that figure had risen to 695,136 people using the station (that’s 1,910 people a day).

The juxtaposition of the property and the train station has an important effect on the value and saleability of a Locks Heath property.  It is also significant for Tenants – so if you are a Locks Heath buy to let investor looking for a property the distance to and from the railway station can be extremely significant.

One of the first things house buyers and Tenants do when surfing the web for somewhere to live is find out the proximity of a property to the train station.  That is why Rightmove displays the distance to the railway station alongside each and every property on their website.

For more thoughts on the Locks Heath Property market please visit The Locks Heath Property Blog.

The next five years will see an interesting change in the Locks Heath property market.  My recent research has concluded that the rent private tenants pay in Locks Heath will rise faster than Locks Heath property prices over the next five years, creating further issues to Locks Heath’s growing multitude of renters.  In fact, my examination of statistics forecasts that ..

By 2022, Locks Heath rents will increase by 23%, whereas Locks Heath property values will only grow by 17%.

Let me explain why I have come to those conclusions:

Over the last five years property values in Locks Heath have risen by 33.3%, whilst rents have only risen by 16.3%.

Throughout the last few years, and compounded in 2016, Tenant demand for rental properties continued to go up whilst the Press predicted some Landlords expect to reduce their portfolios in the next couple of years.  Meaning that Locks Heath Tenants will have fewer properties to choose from, which will push rents higher.  In fact, talking to fellow property professionals in the area, there appears to be a shortage of new rental properties coming on to the Locks Heath lettings market.

Landlords have some intriguing challenges ahead of them in the coming years, most notably that the Tory’s have changed the taxation rules for Landlords in the way buy to let properties are to be taxed.  On top of that, there is the ban on letting agent fees which is still to come into force (probably in 2018).  When that happened in Scotland in 2012 Scottish letting agents passed on those fees to their Landlords, who in turn increased the rent they charged to their Tenants.

All I would say to Theresa May and Philip Hammond is that they must be wary about indicating both red and green lights at the same time to the private rented sector.  They can’t expect the armies of small private Landlords to continue to house around a fifth of the population and then tax the hell out of them.  They didn’t invest in buy to let as a charity or to satisfy any philanthropic urges.  Something has to give – and that will be significant rent rises over the coming few years (and before anyone gives me any derogatory comments about Landlords… if it wasn’t for Landlords buying all these buy to let properties over the last 15 years, I am not sure where everyone would be living today – because most of the Council houses were sold off in the 1980’s).

With the challenges ahead, with the ‘B’ word (that’s budget if you wondered!), house price inflation will be tempered over the coming five years in Locks Heath.  As I have discussed in previous articles, the number of properties on the market in Locks Heath remains close to historic lows, which is both good as it keeps houses prices relatively stable, yet not so good as it impedes choice for buyers… and hence why I believe property values in Locks Heath will only be 17% higher in five years’ time.

Whilst on the other side of the coin, with the challenges facing Landlords and the significant shortage of new homes being built, Locks Heath people still need somewhere to live.  If those people aren’t buying houses and the local authority aren’t building council houses in there thousands (because they have no money), with the average rent for a Locks Heath rental property currently standing at £882 per month…

Over the next five years, I predict the average rent in Locks Heath will rise to £1,085 per month

These are interesting times.  There is still money to be made in buy to let in Locks Heath – Locks Heath Landlords will just need to be smarter and more savvy with their investments.  If you are looking for such advice and opinion to help you meet those investment goals, one place you can find more information is The Locks Heath Property Blog.

2017 has started with some positive interest in the Locks Heath property market.  Taking a snap shot of the Locks Heath property market for the first quarter of 2017, the picture suggests some interesting trends when it comes to the number of properties available to buy, their asking prices and what prices properties are actually selling for.

Let us first consider the number of properties for sale (in SO31), compared to 12 months ago:

Next, Locks Heath asking prices, compared to the same as a year ago, are 6% lower.

With that in mind, I wanted to look at what property was actually selling for in Locks Heath. Taking my information from the Land Registry, the last available six months property transactions for SO31 show an interesting picture (note the Land Registry data is always a few months behind due to the nature of the house buying process and so November 2016 is latest set of data). The price shown is the average price paid and the number in brackets is the number of properties actually sold.

So what does all this mean for the property owning folk of Locks Heath?

Well, with more property on the market than a year ago and asking prices 6% lower, those trying to sell their property need to be mindful that buyers, be they first timers, buy to let landlords or people moving up the Locks Heath property ladder, have much more price information about the Locks Heath property market at their fingertips than ever before.

Those Locks Heath people who are looking to sell their property in 2017 need to be aware of the risks of over pricing their property when initially placing it on the market. Over the last 12 months I have noticed the approach some Estate Agents take is to suggest an inflated asking price to encourage the homeowner and secure the property to sell on their books.  The down side to this is that when offered to the market for the first time, buyers will realise it is overpriced and won’t waste their time asking for a brochure.  They won’t even view the property, let alone make an offer.  So when the price is reduced a few months later the property has become market stale and continues to be ignored.

Whilst the Locks Heath property market has an unassailable demand for property – there is one saying that always rings true –

As long as the property is being marketed at the right price it will sell.

If you want to know if your Locks Heath property is being marketed at the right price, send me a web link and I will give you my honest opinion.

I know how my readers like to keep abreast of planned developments in the local area. Having read the article below on the Daily Echo’s website over the weekend regarding two planned sites in Warsash I thought it was worth sharing.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/15194526.Two_Hampshire_countryside_sites_could_disappear_if_go_ahead_for_330_new_homes_is_given/?ref=fbpg

As always I welcome your thoughts and views on the plans.  Feel free to call me on 01489 570011 or email at james.hill@brooklettings.co.uk.