A little bit of good news this week on the Locks Heath Property Market as recently released data shows that the number of first time buyers taking out their first mortgage in 2017 increased more than in any other year since the global financial crisis in 2009.  The data shows there were 54 first time buyers in Locks Heath, the largest number since 2006.

I expect in 2018 that this increase of first time buyers will level out and maybe dip slightly as, nationally, figures demonstrate that first time buyer’s average household income was £40,691 and this represented 17.3% of their take home pay.  Although, it might surprise readers that it is actually cheaper to buy than it is to rent at the ‘starter home’ end of the housing market.  Many of you can remember mortgage rates at 12%… even 15%.  Today, at the time of writing this article, I found on the open market, 189 first time buyer mortgages at 95% (meaning only a 5% deposit was required) with 3 year fixed rates from a reputable High Street bank at 2.49%… they even did a 3 year fixed rate 100% mortgage for 2.89%!

Interestingly, looking at the other end of the market, the buy-to-let investment in Locks Heath was subdued, with only 11 buy-to-let properties being purchased with a mortgage. However, I must stress, whilst there is no hard and fast data on the total numbers of Landlords buying buy-to-let, as HM Treasury believes only 30% to 40% of buy-to-let property is bought with a mortgage.  This means there would have been further cash only buy-to-let purchases in Locks Heath – it’s just that the data isn’t available at such a granular level.

In terms of the level of mortgage debt in Locks Heath, looking specifically at the SO31 postcode, you can see there has been a steady rise in borrowing over the last few years.

This is pleasing to see, as new mortgage debt is created by first time buyers, buy-to-let landlords and home movers themselves, that is being roughly equalled by the amount being paid off with mature mortgaged homeowners in their 50’s and 60’s finally paying off their mortgage.

So, what does all this mean for the Locks Heath Property Market?  Well, the stats paint a picture, but they don’t inform us of the whole story.  The upper end of the Locks Heath property market has been weighed down by the indecision around the Brexit negotiations and rise in stamp duty in 2014, when it made it considerably more expensive to buy a home costing more than £1m.  The middle part of the Locks Heath property market has been affected by issues of mortgage affordability and lack of good properties to buy, as selling prices have reached the limit of what buyers can afford under existing mortgage regulations.  The lower to middle Locks Heath property market was hit by tax changes for buy-to-let landlords, although this has been offset by the increase in first time buyers.

If you are in the market and selling now and want to ensure you get your Locks Heath property sold, the bottom line is you have to be 100% realistic with your pricing from day one and you might not get as much as you did say a year ago (but the one you want to buy will be less – swings and roundabouts?).  I know it’s not comfortable hearing that your Locks Heath home isn’t worth as much as you thought, but Locks Heath buyers are now unbelievably discerning.

So, if you are thinking of selling your Locks Heath property in the coming months, don’t ask the agent out a few days before you want to put the property on the market, get them out now and ask them what you need to do to ensure you get maximum value in the shortest possible time.

That got your attention … didn’t it!

But before we start, what is Generation X, let alone Generation Z, Millennials, Baby Boomers… these are phrases banded around about the different life stages (or subcomponents) of our society.  But when terminologies like this are used as often and habitually as these phrases (i.e. Gen X this, Millennial that etc.), it appears particularly vital we have some practical idea of what these terms actually mean. The fact is that everyone uses these phrases, but often, like myself, they are not exactly sure where the lines are drawn… until now…

So, for clarity …

Generation Z:              Born after 1996

Millennials:                 Born 1977 to 1995

Generation X:              Born 1965 to 1976

Baby Boomers:            Born 1946 to 1964

Silent Generation:       Born 1945 and before

My research shows there are 6,614 households in Locks Heath owned by Locks Heath Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) and Locks Heath’s Silent Generation (born 1945 and before).  It also shows there are 8,912 Generation X’s of Locks Heath (Locks Heath people born between 1965 to 1976).  Looking at demographics, homeownership statistics and current life expectancy, around two-thirds of those Locks Heath 8,912 Generation X’s have parents and grandparents who own those 6,614 Locks Heath properties.

They will profit from one of the biggest inheritance explosions of any post-war generation to the tune of £2.341bn of Locks Heath property or £393,841 each but they will have to wait until their early 60’s to get it!

However, it’s the Millennials that are in line for an even bigger inheritance windfall.

There are 5,563 Millennials in Locks Heath and my research shows around two thirds of them are set to inherit the 7,853 Locks Heath Generation X’s properties.  Those Generation X’s Locks Heath homes are worth £2.780bn meaning, on average, each Millennial will inherit £749,132; but not until at least 2040 to 2060!

While the Locks Heath Millennials have done far less well in amassing their own savings and assets, they are more likely to take advantage of an inheritance boom in the years to come.  This will probably be very welcome news for those Locks Heath Millennials, including some from poorer upbringings who in the past would have been unlikely to receive gifts and legacies.

However, inheritance is not the magic weapon that will get the Millennials on to the Locks Heath housing ladder or tackle growing wealth cracks in UK society, as the inheritance is unlikely to be made available when they are trying to buy their first home… but before all you Locks Heath Millennials start running up debts, over 50% of females and around 35% of men are going to have to pay for nursing home care. Interestingly, I read recently that a quarter of people who have to pay for their care, run out of money.

So, if you are a Locks Heath Millennial there potentially will be nothing left for you.

Of course, most parents want to give their children an inheritance, the consideration that what you have worked genuinely hard for over your working life won’t go to your children to help them through their lives is a really awful one… maybe that is why I am seeing a lot of Locks Heath grandparents doing something meaningful, and helping their grandchildren, the Millennials, with the deposit for their first house.

One solution to the housing crisis in Locks Heath (and the UK as a whole) is if grandparents, where they are able to, help financially with the deposit for a house. Buying is cheaper than renting – we have proved it many times in these articles… so, it’s not a case of not affording the mortgage, the issue is raising the 5% to 10% mortgage deposit for these Millennials.

Maybe families should be distributing a part of the family wealth now (in the form of helping with house deposits) as opposed to waiting to the end… it will make so much more of a difference to everyone in the long run.

Just a thought…?

Yes, I said ‘rentirement’, not retirement… rentirement, and it relates to the 397 (and growing) Locks Heath people, who don’t own their own Locks Heath home but rent their home, privately from a buy to let Landlord and who are currently in their 50’s and early to mid-60’s.

The truth is that these Locks Heath people are prospectively soon to retire with little more than their state pension of £155.95 per week, probably with a small private pension of a couple of hundred pounds a month, meaning the average Locks Heath retiree can expect to retire on about £200 a week once they retire at 67.

The average rent in Locks Heath is £886 a month, so a lot of the retirement “income” will be taken up in rent, meaning the remainder will have to be paid for out their savings or the taxpayer will have to stump up the bill – and with life expectancy currently in the mid to late 80’s, that is quite a big bill…  a total of £84,418,080 over the next 20 years to be paid from the tenant’s savings or the taxpayers coffers to be precise!

You might say it’s not fair for Locks Heath tax payers to pick up the bill and that these mature Locks Heath renters should start saving thousands of pounds a year now to be able to afford their rent in retirement.  However, in many circumstances, the reason these people are privately renting in the first place is that they were never able to find the money for a mortgage deposit on their home in the first place, or didn’t earn enough to qualify for a mortgage… and now as they approach retirement with hope of a nice council bungalow, that hope is diminishing because of the council house sell off in the 1980’s!

For a change, the Locks Heath 30 to 40 somethings will be better off, as their parents are more likely to be homeowners and cascade their equity down the line when their parents pass away.  For example, that is what is happening in Europe where renting is common, the majority of people rent in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, but by the time they hit 50’s and 60’s (and retirement), they will invest the money they have inherited from their parents passing away and buy their own home.

So, what does this all mean for buy to let Landlords in Locks Heath?

Have you noticed how the new homes builders don’t build bungalows anymore?  In fact some would said the ‘bungalow storey’ is over!  The waning in the number of bungalows being built has more to do with supply than demand.  The fact is that for new homes builders there is more money in constructing houses than there is in constructing bungalows.  Bungalows are voracious when it comes to land they need as a bungalow has a larger footprint for the same amount of square meterage as a two/three storey house due to the fact they are on one level instead of two or three.

That means, as demand will continue to rise for bungalows supply will remain the same.  We all know what happens when demand outs strips supply… prices (i.e. rents) for bungalows will inevitably go up.

As I am sure you are aware, one the best things about my job as an agent is helping Locks Heath Landlords with their strategic portfolio management.  Gone are the days of making money by buying any old Locks Heath property to rent out or sell on.  Nowadays, property investment is both an art and science.  The art is your gut reaction to a property, but with the power of the internet and the way the Locks Heath property market has gone in the last 11 years, science must also play its part on a property’s future viability for investment.

Many metrics most property professionals (including myself) use when deciding the viability of a rental property is what properties are selling for, the average rent, the yield and an average value per square foot.

However, another metric I like to use is the average rent per square foot.  The reason being is that it is a great way to judge a property from the point of view of the Tenant… what space they get for their money.  Now of course, location has a huge influencing factor when it comes to rents (and hence rent per square foot).  Like people buying a property, Tenants also have that balancing act between better/worse location, more vs. less money and size of accommodation (bigger and more rooms equalling more money) and where they live (location) verses making ends meet.

Interestingly, I know there are a lot of you in Locks Heath who like to see my statistics on the Locks Heath property market, so before I talk about the rental figures per square foot, I wanted to share the £ per square foot on the values.  In Locks Heath, the current AVERAGE figures are being achieved (and I must stress, these are average figures, so there will an enormous range in these figures), but on average, properties in Locks Heath, split down by type are achieving:

• Locks Heath Detached Property – £312 / sq ft
• Locks Heath Semi Detached Property – £302 / sq ft
• Locks Heath Terraced Property – £308 / sq ft
• Locks Heath Apartments – £301 / sq ft

So, the rental figures:

The extent of space you get for your rent is replicated in the space you get for your money when buying a property.  The average size of rental property in the Locks Heath area is 810.3 sq ft (interesting when compared to the national average of 792.1 sq ft).

This means the average rent per square foot currently being achieved on a Locks Heath rental property is £12.94 per sq ft per annum

So, what we can deduce from this?  Well the devil is always in the detail!

Whilst I was able to quote the average overall figure and the fact my research showed it was quite clear from the data that there is relationship between the average £ per sq ft figures on property values and average £ per sq ft on rental figures as a property grows in size.  However, something quite intriguing happens to those figures, in terms of what the property will sell for and what it will rent for, when we change and increase the size of the property.

My research showed that doubling the size of any Locks Heath property doesn’t mean you will double the value of it in either value or rent.  This is because the marginal value increases diminish as the size of the property increases.  In layman’s terms… Subject to a few assumptions, double the size of the house doesn’t mean double the value… what really happens is a doubling of the size gives only an approximately 40% to 65% uplift in value, but here comes the even more fascinating part… when it came to the rental figures, double the size of the house meant only 20% to 45% in increase in rent.

In a future article, I will be discussing the actual added value an extension can bring… but in the meantime, in an overall and sweeping statement, most of the time it makes sense to extend if you are going to live in the property as long as the extension is proportionate to the property, but if you are going to rent it out… possibly not.

As head in to the second month of 2018 I believe UK interest rates will stay low, even with the additional 0.25% increase that is expected in May or June.  That rise will add just over £20 to the typical £160,000 tracker mortgage, although with 57.1% of all borrowers on fixed rates, it will probably go undetected by most buy-to-let Landlords and homeowners.  I forecast that we won’t see any more interest rate rises due to the fragile nature of the British economy and the Brexit challenge.  Even though mortgages will remain inexpensive, with retail price inflation outstripping salary rises, it will still very much feel like a heavy weight to some Locks Heath households.

Now it’s certain the Locks Heath housing market in 2017 was a little more subdued than 2016 and that will continue into 2018.  Property ownership is a medium to long-term investment so looking at that long-term time frame; the average Locks Heath homeowner who bought their property 20 years ago has seen its value rise by more than 280%.

This is important, as house prices are a national obsession and tied into the health of the UK economy as a whole.  The majority of that historic gain in Locks Heath property values has come from property market growth, although some of that will have been added by homeowners modernising, extending or developing their Locks Heath home.

Taking a look at the different property types in Locks Heath and the profit made by each type, it makes interesting reading..

	Average Price Paid in 1998 in Locks Heath	Average Price Paid in 2018 in Locks Heath	Average Total Profit in last 20 years in Locks Heath	Average Profit per Month in Locks Heath over the last 20 years
Detached	£132,466	£484,854	£352,388	£1,468.28
Semi	£76,269	£303,571	£227,302	£947.09
Terraced	£58,691	£261,036	£202,345	£843.10
Apartments	£69,445	£190,224	£120,779	£503.25
Overall Locks Heath Average	£92,238	£349,778	£257,540	£1,073.08

However, I want to put aside all that historic growth and profit and looking forward to what will happen in the future. I want to look at the factors that could affect future Locks Heath (and the Country’s) house price growth/profit; one important factor has to be the building of new homes both locally and in the country as a whole.  This has picked up in 2017 with 217,350 homes coming on to the UK housing ladder in the last year (a 15% increase on the previous year’s figures of 189,690).  However, Philip Hammond has set a target of 300,000 a year, so still plenty to go!

Another factor that will affect property prices is my prediction that the balance of power between Locks Heath buy-to-let Landlords and Locks Heath first-time buyers should tip more towards the local first-time buyers in 2018.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders expects the number of buy to let mortgages to drop by 34% from levels seen in 2015.  This is because of taxes being increased recently on buy-to-let and harder lending criteria for buy to let mortgages, which means I foresee a gradual move in the balance of power in favour of first-time buyers rather than buy-to-let Landlords.  First time buyers will also be helped by The Chancellor eradicating Stamp Duty for all properties up to £300,000 bought by first-time buyers in the recent budget.

This means Locks Heath buy-to-let Landlords will have to work smarter in the future to continue to make decent returns (profits) from their Locks Heath buy-to-let investment.  Even with the tempering of house price inflation in Locks Heath in 2017, most Locks Heath buy to let Landlords (and homeowners) are still sitting on a copious amount of growth from previous years.

The question is, how do you as a Locks Heath buy to let landlord, ensure that continues?

Since the 1990’s, making money from investing in buy-to-let property was as easy as falling off a log.  Looking forward though, with all the changes in the tax regime and balance of power, making those similar levels of return in the future won’t be as easy.  Over the last ten years I have seen the role of the forward thinking letting agents evolve from a ‘rent collector’ and basic property management to a more holistic role, or as I call it, ‘Landlord portfolio strategic leadership’.  Thankfully, along with myself, there are a handful of letting agents in Locks Heath whom I would consider exemplary at this Landlord portfolio strategy where they can give you a balanced structured overview of your short, medium and long-term goals, in relation to your required return on investment, yield and capital growth requirements.  If you would like such advice, speak with your current agent – or whether you are a Landlord of ours or not – without any cost or commitment, feel free to drop me a line.

I was recently reading a report by the Home website which suggested that hordes of Landlords are selling their buy-to-let investments due to increasing burdens on them in the buy-to-let market. Their findings suggest the number of new properties that came onto the market nationally (for sale) jumped by 11% across the UK as a result.

Those increasing burdens include new tax rules coming in over the next 3 to 4 years and the announcement that all self-managing Landlords (i.e. Landlords that don’t use a letting agent to look after their buy-to-let property) will soon need to register with a compulsory redress scheme to resolve Tenant arguments and disputes; as Westminster wants to heighten standards in the Private Rented Sector.

Interestingly I was chatting with a self-managed Landlord from Sarisbury Green, when I was out socially over the festive period, who didn’t realise the other recent legislation  that has hit the Private Rented sector, including the ‘Right to Rent’ regulations which came in to operation last year. Landlords have to certify their Tenants have the legal right to live in the UK. This includes checking and taking copies of their Tenant’s passport or visa before the tenancy is signed. Of course, if you use a letting agent to manage your property, they will usually sort this for you (as they will with the redress scheme when that is implemented).

If you are a self-managed Landlord though, the consequences are severe because if you let a property to a Tenant who is living in the UK illegally, you will be fined up to £3,000. That same Sarisbury Green Landlord popped into my offices in the New Year, and I checked all his paperwork and ensured he was on the right side of the law going forward – and I offer the same to any Landlord in the Locks Heath area if you want me to cast my eye over your buy to let matters (and at no cost – ok just bring in some chocolates for the Directors in the office!)

But what of all these extra properties being dumped onto the market in Locks Heath? When I looked at the records the number of properties on the market in Locks Heath now, as opposed to a year ago, the numbers tell an interesting story…

	1st Jan 2017	1st Jan 2018
Detached	150	153	2%
Semi	42	81	93%
Terraced	27	29	7%
Flat	66	75	14%
Plots + Other	41	60	46%
Total	326	398	22%

Overall, Locks Heath doesn’t match the national trend, with the number of properties on the market actually rising by 22% in the last year.  It was particularly interesting to see the number of semis increase by 93%, yet the number of detached on the market only rise by 2%.

However, speaking with my team and other property professionals in the suburb, the majority of that movement in the number of properties and the types of properties on the market isn’t down to Landlords dumping their properties on the market. The whole property market has changed in the last 12 months, with the majority of the change in the number and type of properties for sale due to the owner-occupier market, not Landlords (a subject I will write about soon in my Locks Heath Property Blog later this Spring(?)). You see, for the last ten years, each month there has always been a small number of Locks Heath Landlords who have been releasing their monies from their Locks Heath buy to let properties – as is the nature of all investments!

Nationally, the number of rental properties coming on to the market to rent fell by 16% in Q4 2017 compared to Q4 2016… but that isn’t because there are 16% less rental properties to rent – it’s because Tenants are staying in their rental properties longer meaning less are coming on the market to be RE-LET.

Nevertheless, some Locks Heath Landlords will want to release the equity held in their Locks Heath buy to let properties in 2018.  All I suggest is that you speak with your letting agent first, as putting a rental property on the open market often spooks the Tenants to hand in their notice days after you put it on the market (because they don’t like the uncertainty and also believe they will become homeless!). This means you have an empty property, costing you money with no rent coming in.  However, some letting agents who specialise in portfolio management have select lists of Landlords that will buy with sitting Tenants in.  If you have a portfolio in the Locks Heath area and are considering selling some or all of them – drop me a line as I might have a portfolio Landlord for you (with the peace of mind that you won’t have any rental voids).

Check out this little gem in Primrose Way offering a 5.03% yield!

Talk to many Locks Heath 20 something’s, where home ownership has looked but a vague dream, many of them have been vexatious towards the Baby Boomer generation and their pushover ‘easy go lucky’ walk through life; jealous of their free university education with grants, their eye watering property windfalls, their golden final salary pensions and their free bus passes.

If you had bought a property in Locks Heath for say £17,000 in first quarter of 1977, today it would be worth £373,612, a windfall increase of 2097.72%.

But to blame the 60 and 70 year olds of Locks Heath for that sort of rise seems a little unfair, with the value of the homes rising like rocket, I don’t believe they can be faulted or made liable for that. A few weeks ago, I discussed in my blog the number of people in the Locks Heath area who have two or more spare bedrooms (meaning they are under-occupying the house). I see many mature members of Locks Heath society, rattling around in large 4/5 bed houses where the kids have flown the nest years ago… but should they be blamed?

We are all just human, and the mature members of UK society have just reacted to the inducements of our property and tax system. The mature generations who joined the property market party in the 1970’s and 1980’s were able to take out huge mortgages protected in the knowledge that inflation would corrode the real value of the mortgage, while wage gains would boost their ability to repay.

Neither do I directly blame the multitude of Locks Heath buy to let landlords, buying up their 10th or 11th property to add to their buy to let empire. They too, are humbly reacting to the peculiar historic inducements of the UK property market.

So, who is to blame?

Well, hyperinflation in the 1970’s meant the real value of people’s mortgages was whipped out (as mentioned above). Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson are also good people to blame with Maggie selling off millions of council houses and Nigel Lawson’s delayed ending of the MIRAS tax relief in 1987; meaning he too can get his share of indignation. The Blair/Brown combo doubled stamp duty in 1997 and again in 2000, which, as a tax on property transactions, precludes a more efficient distribution of the current housing stock. The Government has had plenty of opportunity to change the draconian stamp duty rules to incentivise those mature Locks Heath house movers to downsize.

However, I have started to see over the last few years a change in Government policy towards housing. The new breed of Locks Heath buy to let Landlords that have come about since the Millennium, have had their wings clipped over the last couple of years, with the introduction of new tax rules (meaning it is slightly more difficult to make money out of property unless you have all the national information and Locks Heath property trends to hand).

It’s easy to think the only reason that hundreds of first time buyers have been priced out of the Locks Heath housing market is because of these Landlords. Yet, I believe Landlords have been undervalued with the Locks Heath homes they provide for Locks Heath people. With first time buyers struggling to save for a deposit, if it weren’t for those Landlords buying up those homes over the last 10/15 years, we would have a bigger housing crisis than we have today. Since the global financial crisis of 2008/9, local councils have had to cut services, so certainly didn’t have enough money to build new homes… homes that were provided to Locks Heath by these buy to let Landlords.

One side of the argument is that 300 homes are being bought up by buy to let Landlords each year in the Fareham Borough Council area when otherwise they might have become available to other buyers, the other side of the argument is the current national average deposit is £51,800, which is, by far, the greatest barrier to those wanting to buy their first home. Those homes bought by local buy to let Landlords are not left idle, as they equate to 2,101 of new homes for local people, most of whom who see renting as a better option because of the choice, the simplicity and the flexibility which renting brings.

In the 60’s/70’/80’s, the traditional thoughts that you were a failure unless you owned your own home have now all but disappeared, because if you ask many young people, they would probably say renting was the perfect option for them at certain times of their life.

My research shows that certain types of Locks Heath property are more affordable today than before the 2007 credit crunch.

Roll the clock back to 2007 just before the credit crunch hit which saw Locks Heath property values plummet like a lead balloon and the Locks Heath property market had reached a peak with the prices for Locks Heath property hitting the highest level they had ever reached. Between 2008 and 2010, Locks Heath property values lay in the doldrums and only started to rise in 2011, albeit quite slowly to begin with.

Nevertheless, even though property values have now passed those 2007 peaks my research indicates that Locks Heath property, especially flats/apartments, are now more affordable than they were before the 2008 credit crunch.

Back in 2007, the average value of a Locks Heath flat/apartment stood at £153,592 and today, it stands at £179,588, a rise of £25,996 or 16.9%.

However, between 2007 and today, we have experienced inflation (as measured by the Government’s Consumer Price Index) of 25.97% meaning that in real spending power terms Locks Heath apartments are 9% more affordable than in 2007. Looking at it another way, if the average Locks Heath apartment (valued at £153,592 in 2007) had risen by 25.97% inflation over those 10 years, today it would be worth £193,480 (instead of the current £179,588).

The point I’m trying to get across is that Locks Heath property is more affordable than many people think. Locks Heath first time buyers can get on the ladder as 95% mortgages have been readily available to first-time buyers since 2010.

It really comes down to a choice and if Locks Heath first-time buyers can get over the hurdle of saving the 5% deposit for the mortgage on the property – they will be on to a winner, especially with these ultralow mortgage interest rates, a mortgage can be between 10% and 30% cheaper per month than the rental payments on the same house.

So why aren’t Locks Heath 20 somethings buying their own home?

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, renting was considered the poor man’s choice in Locks Heath (and the rest of the Country) – a huge stigma was attached to renting. However, over the last 10 years as a country, we have done a complete U-turn in our attitude towards renting – meaning that many people find renting a better option and a lifestyle choice.

Saving the 5% deposit means going without many luxuries in life (such as holidays, every satellite movie and sports channel, socialising or the latest mobile phone – even if only in the short term) therefore instead of saving every last pound to put towards a mortgage deposit Locks Heath 20 somethings choose to rent.

There is no denying the simple fact that over the next 10 to 15 years, the people who choose to rent instead of buy in Locks Heath will continue to rise.

Therefore, everyone in Locks Heath has a responsibility to ensure that an adequate number of quality Locks Heath rental properties are safeguarded to meet those future demands. Interestingly, what I have noticed though over the last few years are the expectations of Locks Heath Tenants on the finish and specification of their Locks Heath rental property.

I have perceived that in the past, what a Tenant wanted from their Locks Heath rental property was moderately unassuming because renting a property was only a short-term choice to fill the gap before jumping on the property ladder. Before the millennium, wood chip wall paper and twenty-year-old kitchen and bathroom suites were considered the norm.

However, Locks Heath Tenants’ expectations are becoming more discerning as each year goes by. I have also noticed the length of time a Tenant remains in their Locks Heath property is becoming longer (and this was backed up recently by stats from a Government Report), although I have noticed a tendency for many Locks Heath Landlords not to keep the rental payments at the going market rates – maybe a topic for a future article for my blog?

The bottom line is this… Locks Heath Landlords will need to be more conscious of Tenants needs and wants and consider their financial planning for future enhancements to their Locks Heath rental properties over the next five, ten and twenty years – e.g. decorating, kitchen and bathroom suites etc etc ..

The present-day and future situation of the Locks Heath private rental property market is important, and I frequently liaise with Locks Heath buy-to-let investors looking to spread their Locks Heath rental-portfolios. I also enjoy meeting and working alongside Locks Heath first time Landlords to ensure they can navigate through the minefield of rental voids, the important balance of capital growth and yield and ensuring the property is returned back to you in the future in the best possible condition.