We are continuing our countdown the Top 30 Most Saleable Streets in SO31, PO14 & PO15.

Here we are at Number 28 on the list – Is it your street this week?

For more articles about the local property market please visit the Locks Heath Property Blog at http://www.thelocksheathpropertyblog.co.uk.

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Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
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As I have mentioned a number times in my local property market blog, with not enough new-build properties being built in Locks Heath and the surrounding areas to keep up with demand for homes to live in (be that Tenants or homebuyers), it’s good to know more Locks Heath home sellers are putting their properties on to the market than a year ago.

At the start of 2007 there were 586 properties for sale in Locks Heath but by April 2008, when the credit crunch was really beginning to bite, that number had risen to 977 properties on the market at a time when demand was at an all-time low, thus creating an imbalance in the local property market.

Basic economics dictates that if there is too much supply of something and demand is poor (which it was in the Credit Crunch years of 2008/9) prices will drop.  In fact, house prices dropped between 15% and 20% depending on the type of Locks Heath property between the end of 2007 and Spring 2009.

However, over the last five years, we have seen a steady decrease in supply of properties coming onto the market for sale and steady demand, meaning Locks Heath property prices have remained robust.  A stable housing market is one of the foundations of a successful British economy, as it’s all about getting the healthy balance of buyer demand with a good supply of properties.  Nevertheless, if you had asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said we were beginning to see there was in fact NOT enough properties coming on to the market for sale… meaning in certain sectors of the Locks Heath property market, house prices were overheating because of this lack of supply.

So, it is pleasing to note, looking at the recent numbers…

There are 12% more properties for sale in Locks Heath today than a year ago

There were 357 properties for sale 12 months ago, and today that stands at 399.  It doesn’t sound a lot, yet this is a small step in the right direction to a more stable property market.

Even better news, since the Chancellor announced the stamp duty rule changes for first time buyers (FTB), my fellow agents in Park Gate say that the number of FTB’s registering on the majority of agent’s books has increased year on year.  That has still to follow through into more FTBs buying their first home, however, with the heightened levels of confidence being demonstrated by both Locks Heath house sellers and potential house buyers, I do foresee the Locks Heath Property Market will show steady yet sustained improvement during the first half of 2018.

What does this mean for Locks Heath Landlords or those considering dipping their toe into the buy to let market for the first time?  Landlords will need to keep improving their properties to ensure they get the best Tenants.  It is true that demand amongst FTBs is increasing, albeit from a low base.  Even with the new Landlord tax rules, buy to let in Locks Heath still looks a good investment, providing Locks Heath Landlords with a good income at a time of low interest rates and a roller coaster stock market.

If you are thinking of investing in bricks and mortar in Locks Heath, it is important to do things correctly as making money won’t be as easy as it has been over the last twenty years.  With a greater number of properties on the market comes greater choice.  Don’t buy the first thing you see, buy with your head as well as your heart and don’t forget the first rule of Buy To Let Investment …..

I will tell you that 1^st rule in a couple of weeks!

We are continuing our countdown the Top 30 Most Saleable Streets in SO31, PO14 & PO15.

Here we are at Number 29 on the list – Is it your street this week?

For more articles about the local property market please visit the Locks Heath Property Blog at http://www.thelocksheathpropertyblog.co.uk.

Music:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

As our families grow bigger the need for more space, be that bedrooms or reception rooms, has grown with it.  Also, as our older generation lives longer and nursing home bills continue to rise quicker than a rocket on the 5^th of November (the average nursing home bill in the area being £715 per week) many families are bringing two households into one larger one.

So, should you move somewhere larger or extend your Locks Heath property to make it large enough for you and your family?  In some circumstances the choice has been made for you.  If you live in an apartment with no garden, there isn’t much of an opportunity of making it larger.  But if you have a house with a garden or an attic with sufficient headroom, extending your home becomes a real prospect.

Even if it makes more sense to extend or move, the choice hangs on a number of different dynamics – your future plans, money (both saved and access to finance), in what way you are emotionally attached to your home, the particular area of Locks Heath you live in and finally, the type/style of house you prefer.

Interestingly the average British home is 968 sq.ft, which as you can see from the table, is in the middle of developed nations when it comes to the size of a property.  Of the 1.11m homes sold in 2016 in England and Wales, the average floor area of the houses was 1,119 sq.ft – that’s about an eighth the size of an Olympic sized swimming pool.  Apartments averaged 530 sq.ft that’s just over ten times bigger than an average garden shed.  Looking at apartments and houses together, the average size of properties sold in England and Wales 968 sq.ft  – are slightly smaller than the European average, and much smaller than households in the US.

So back to the question in hand… extending does mean you will have a lot of inconvenience whilst the work is being carried out.  The location of your Locks Heath property, the quality of construction, what type of room(s) you want to add, your plot, neighbouring building lines, planning regulations and the overall demand for your type of Locks Heath home, will make a vast difference to the financial repercussions of extending versus moving.

A medium-sized 270 sq.ft single storey extension (say around 17ft x 16ft) will add on average £71,400 to the value of a property in Locks Heath

It’s important to note the end result of the extension needs to be a sensible and realistic home.  A two bed semi-detached house extended to a four bedrooms with no lawn or driveway, or a home with out-sized reception rooms downstairs and minuscule bedrooms upstairs, could be problematic if and when you come to sell your home in the future. Irrespective of whether your strategy is to live in your extended home for a long time, you will want to side-step outlaying a lot of money on costly building work that will make it tougher to sell.

In terms of what it would cost to build an extension, you can expect to pay on average between £140 to £200 per sq.ft, depending whether the extension is a single or double storey extension and other factors including finish and type of extension (note – I have seen it cost a lot more than these figures – so please speak with a builder).  So taking a mid-line figure, that same 270 sq.ft extension on your Locks Heath home would cost on average £55,080.

However, moving means there are substantial costs incurred – Estate Agency fees, Removal Van, Survey Fees, Legal fees and Stamp Duty on the property you are buying.  Neither option is the obvious choice and comparing the costs of extending your Locks Heath home to that of moving is not a stress-free undertaking.

How realistic each option is will probably come down to one thing – your mortgage provider. You will need a considerable sum of equity in your Locks Heath home before you can think of increasing your mortgage more, because most lenders will require you to have at least 10% to 20% equity left in your property after the extension or move has been done.

The best advice I can give is don’t assume anything.  Get advice and opinion from builders, mortgage brokers, architects, mortgage people and of course… an agent.  Look at your options and make an educated decision with all the superficial and objective facts in front of you.