Walsall Property Market

Comment on the Walsall property market

Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?
Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?

I can’t remember who coined it first but the first time I heard it was when Mrs Thatcher said it…“An Englishman’s home is his castle-and everyone should own their own home”.

In 1971, around 50% of people owned their own home and, as the baby-boomers got better jobs and pay, that proportion of homeowners rose to 69% by 2001.  Homeownership was here to stay as many baby boomers assumed it’s very much a cultural thing here in Britain to own your own home.

But on the back of TV programmes like Homes Under the Hammer, these same baby boomers started to jump on the band wagon of Walsall buy to let properties as an investment. Walsall first time buyers were in competition with Walsall landlords to buy these smaller starter homes… pushing house prices up in the 2000’s beyond the reach of first time buyers. Alas, it is not as simple as that. Many factors come into play, such as economics, the banks and government policy. But are Walsall landlords fanning the flames of the Walsall housing crisis by adding to the bonfire?

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Predictions for Walsall Property 2017

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Predictions for Walsall Property 2017
Predictions for Walsall Property 2017

January 2017 is almost over and finally I feel like the dust has settled allowing me the opportunity to catch my breath to reflect on the past year.

2016 was certainly eventful. The ongoing saga that is Brexit, the Queen’s 90th , Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, Trump, Bake Off to Channel 4, the Autumn Statement and something close to the hearts of every buy to let landlord and homeowner in Walsall… the changes in the local property market.

So, let’s look at the headlines for the Walsall property market in 2016…

In the last month, Walsall property values rose by 0.48%, leaving them, year on year 4.34% higher, whilst interestingly, Walsall asking prices are down 0.7% month on month. All three statistics go to show the Walsall property market has recovered well after the summer lull, which was worsened by the uncertainty surrounding the EU vote back in June. Irrespective of all the issues, the average value of a Walsall home now stands at £176,085.

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Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!
Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!

During a site visit last week I was approached by a mature, friendly gentleman who lives next door to one of the properties I manage in Pelsall. He lives in a Bungalow, which is one of my favourite property types that he owns outright (mortgage free). We got talking about the Walsall property market and then he mentioned something which piqued my curiosity. How many other Walsall pensioners are in a similar situation?!

Walsall people aged over 65 currently hold more housing wealth in their homes than the annual GDP of the whole of Northumberland (strictly speaking a county can’t have a GDP, but as everyone knows the phrase, it works for comparison purposes!)

This is a problem for everyone in Walsall!

Many retiree’s want to move but cannot, as there is a shortage of such homes for mature people to downsize into. Due to the shortage, bungalows command a 10% to 20% premium per square foot over houses of the same size with stairs. To add to the woes, in 2014, just 1% of new builds in the UK were bungalows, according to the National House Building Council – down from 7% in 1996.

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How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property
How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property

Welcome back to the first Walsall Property Market blog article of the New Year! I hope you enjoyed a well deserved break over the holidays?

Over the weekend I received a call from a newbie landlord living in the south who was purchasing his first buy to let Walsall property.  He said he had been following my blog for a while and wanted to ask a few questions. His first question was “How much rent can I achieve for my property?”  A question I get asked once or twice a year…!!

I thought it was only fair to explain the thoughts behind an appraisal and how I arrive at the appraisal level when I go out to a property.  Below are the key points of that conversation and my thoughts…

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WALSALL LANDLORDS – THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
WALSALL LANDLORDS - THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS
WALSALL LANDLORDS – THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS

I don’t know about you but at some point over the Christmas break I get fed up of all the eating, drinking and partying.  “Bah! Humbug!” I hear you say…but in reality I think it’s simply that as a busy business owner, my mind and body can’t take the change in pace from mad and hectic to practically a vegetative like state.

So when I hit that point and I need to re-engage my brain, this is what I plan to do…

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Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!
Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!

With the fast approaching Christmas holidays soon upon us some prayers are being offered by the local bob sleighing enthusiasts for snow although, we are more likely to see it between January to March than December.  However, the Walsall property market has a pretty confident feel to it.

With the underlying fundamentals of a continued lack of properties being built, a shortage of properties – both in terms of quantity and quality -coming to the market and the continued low mortgage rate environment, enquiries from first time buyers and buy-to-let landlords is strong and motivation is even stronger, given those inexpensive lending rates and general demand caused by under supply.

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Have Walsall Rents Truly Risen?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Have Walsall Rents Truly Risen?
Have Walsall Rents Truly Risen?

Back in the Spring, there was a surge in Walsall landlords buying buy-to-let property in as they tried to beat George Osborne’s stamp duty changes which kicked in on the 1st April 2016. If you are a football fan, think of it like transfer deadline day!

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 the WS1 postcode taken from the Land Registry;

Jan 2016 – 20 properties sold

Feb 2016 – 19 properties sold

March 2016 – 36 properties sold

April 2016 – 9 properties sold

May 2016 – 17 properties sold

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Walsall Landlords and Tenants : What does the Tenant Fee Banning order mean for you?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
walsall-letting-fees-ban
walsall-letting-fees-ban
  • Tenant Fees set to be banned within 12 to 18 months
  • Rents due to rise as those fees passed to Landlords
  • Landlords won’t be worse off – and neither will tenants or agents

With our new Chancellor of the Exchequer revealing a ban on tenant fees in his first Autumn Statement on Wednesday what does this actually mean for Walsall tenants and Walsall landlords?

The private rental sector in Walsall forms an important part of the Walsall housing market and the engagement from the chancellor in last Wednesday’s Autumn Statement is a welcome sign that it is recognised as such. I have long supported the regulation of lettings agents which will establish and cement best practice across the rental industry and, I believe that measures to improve the situation of tenants should be introduced in a way that supports the growing professionalism of the sector. Over the last few years, there has been an increasing number of regulations and legislation governing private renting and it is important that the role of qualified, well trained and regulated Lettings Agents is understood.

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Walsall’s Spare Rooms..Perhaps the Answer to our Housing Crisis?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Walsall’s Spare Rooms..Perhaps the Answer to our Housing Crisis?
Walsall’s Spare Rooms..Perhaps the Answer to our Housing Crisis?

Of the 107,822 households in Walsall, 33,667 of those properties don’t only have one spare bedroom, but two spare bedrooms! Could this be the cure for Walsall’s housing crisis?

The fundamental problem is the fact that the supply of homes to live in has not historically met demand, increasing property values and rents, thus ensuring home ownership becomes an unattainable ambition for the youngsters of Walsall.

Let’s state the obvious..demand needs to drop or supply needs to rise to stop this trend getting worse for the generations to come.  Don’t get me wrong, I admire Downing Street’s plans to build 200,000 starter homes which will be offered to first time buyers under 40 with a minimum 20% discount price.  However, the building of starter homes on current building sites, where new homes builders already have to build a certain number of affordable ‘starter’ homes at the moment under a different scheme, does not increase the stock of new ‘starter’ homes, it simply replaces one affordable scheme with another.

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Walsall Landlords vs Walsall Savers

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,

A couple of articles back, I did a piece on the effect of the 0.25% base rate on the Walsall property market. This time, I want to look at the situation that Walsall ‘savers’ find themselves in.

What, you might ask, has the plight of Walsall savers have to do with the Walsall property market… well, everything in fact!

Read the newspapers, and every financial wizard is stating that with the decision of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee in early August to cut the Bank of England base rate to an all time low of 0.25%, savers should prepare themselves for interest rates to stay low well into the early 2020’s.

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