The Time Bomb of The Walsall Property Market

I had an interesting telephone conversation with a local property developer and landlord. Amongst other matters we began to talk about the future of the Walsall property market. He wanted to know my thoughts on the future of the Private Rental Sector (PRS) nationally and especially locally. As usual I had an opinion and it sounded like he wanted to hear it. Below are my thoughts on how I think the next 10 years will play out and why I think the PRS is set to grow even further in Walsall.

Thatcher’s government introduced the right to buy of council homes but that’s not where the British obsession for owning your own home began. Prior to WW2 the aspiration of the people wasn’t to buy but to rent. Looking at the country as a whole, in 1951, 30% of residential properties were owner occupied, then every ten years that rose incrementally to 39% by 1961, 51% by 1971, 58% by 1981, 68% by 2001 but after that, it dropped to 63.4% by 2011 and continues to drop today.

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Is the Walsall buy to let Market in Crisis?

12/10/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market Find Affordable Rental Properties in Walsall, How to Rent My Property Walsall, letting agent walsall, Property Lettings Walsall

A Walsall landlord who manages a portfolio of properties called me after reading my Blog. He was concerned about the Walsall Property Market where he has 4 properties and after the recent changes he is considering whether to exit the market by selling the portfolio. We discussed many things but mainly he wanted to pick my brains and thoughts around what he called the crisis in the market. I’m a glass full sort of guy so where others see ‘doom and gloom’, I only see opportunity.

It was only last summer the soothsayers were predicting the end of the world over the supposed house price bubble that many believed was developing in the West Midlands, including the Bath Property Market.

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Just who are the renters in Walsall?

05/10/201505/10/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market Best Letting Agency Walsall, letting agent walsall, Renting Property in Tamebridge, Walsall Letting Agents

I recently went to a property auction and bumped into one of my landlords! We got talking about the state of the Walsall property market and whether we, as a country, are turning more and more to the European style of property ownership, where it is the norm to rent as opposed to automatically buying once you have a good job etc. So I got to work when I returned to my desk….

Even though a recent report by the Halifax stated home-ownership remains a goal for 85% of twenty to forty five year-olds, there is information emerging that attitudes in the UK towards renting your own home as opposed to owning it have softened, showing more and more, that renting is being seen as a life style choice. In fact it is recognised in learned circles that the cycle of renting is also repeated by the fact that people who grow up primarily in rented accommodation are themselves more likely to rent than buy.

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Why it makes sense to invest in property in Walsall…..

29/09/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market Letting Agents Walsall, Renting Property in Tamebridge, Top Letting Agency Walsall, Walsall Letting Agents

So I had an interesting conversation with a landlord recently from the south who was looking to invest in Birmingham. Even though he has a property we manage for him in Shenstone he still calls it Birmingham so when I informed him about some mouth watering deals you could have in Walsall, he asked me where that was! Anyway, we started to talk about the local property market in Walsall and I shared with him my thoughts and why, to me at least, it makes sense.

The Land Registry have just released their latest set of figures for the Walsall Property Market, and it makes interesting reading – as average property values in Walsall rose by 0.2% in May.

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1303% returns for Walsall landlords since 1999…

22/09/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market Best Letting Agency Walsall, BTL, Find Affordable Rental Properties in Walsall, How to Rent My Property Walsall, Renting Property in Walsall, Walsall

Investing in property is essentially different from investing in stocks and shares or putting money in the Building Society. Whilst these other investments (Building Society Passbooks, Stocks and Shares etc) are passive i.e. once the money has been invested it you leave it alone, with BTL, things are more hands on, in fact it’s almost a business!

One thing the landlords I speak to say is the fact that they like BTL because it is both an investment as well as a business. It is this factor that attracts many of my Walsall landlords – they are making their own decisions rather than entrusting them to others – such as City Whizz Kids in London playing roulette with their pension pots.

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Walsall Property Prices….the long climb back!!

14/09/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, capital growth, landlords, letting agent walsall, walsall property, walsall property market

Here’s a post that you may have to read a couple of times to get the gist!

Some landlords have been speaking to me recently about stories in the press and their concerns about booming house prices and the next housing bubble. Whether you are an established landlord or one considering entering the market for the first time, it is of utmost importance that you do your homework. Buying a property in Walsall and the surrounding area is an investment, and as such, one needs to do one’s homework.

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Is George Osbourne Pro Landlord?

07/09/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, letting agent walsall, rental properties, walsall property

Well, the last few weeks have been rather hectic as Walsall landlords. Some who use us to manage their properties and other landlords who just read our Walsall Property Blog, have been sending me emails or picking the phone up to me about the new rules on buy to let taxation announced in the recent budget and the side effects of such policies.

George Osborne confirmed in the recent summer budget that the tax relief given to landlords on mortgage interest payments, on their buy to let Buy-to- Let (BTL) properties, would be reduced over the coming years for higher rate income tax payers. The Chancellor said the tax relief that private BTL landlords (who pay the higher rate of income tax) would change in 2017 from the current 45%/40% and would steadily reduce over the following four years to the existing 20% by 2020.

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Buying a house for the same price as a TV!

29/08/201529/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, letting agent walsall, properties, rental properties, walsall property

An elderly gentleman popped into the office a couple of days ago to ask about, of all things, inheritance tax! He had read an article in our recent newsletter and wanted some more information so I put him in touch with our tax specialist to arrange a chat. We got talking about investing in the Walsall property market and he reminded me that in his day, you could have bought a property for the same price as a decent second hand car would sell for today and that his father was buying property for the same price as a decent 50 inch LCD TV!

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What type of property is best to purchase as a buy-to-let in Walsall?

14/08/201515/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, letting agent walsall, property deals walsall, walsall property

I received a call from an investor this week looking to buy a property for rental in the Walsall area. He said he has a varied portfolio around the country but Walsall had piqued his interest as it sits right in the middle of two cities; Wolverhampton and Birmingham. With so many properties and many sub-areas of Walsall, what type of property and in which location would bring about the best returns? What to do?

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To Extend or Not To Extend? That Is The Question….

02/08/201511/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

Last week, a Walsall landlord emailed me, after reading one of my local articles, to ask if he should extend his terraced house, making an extra bedroom in the loft. He had a builder friend who owed him a favour, and thought it a good way to achieve an ‘inexpensive’ extension.

Having more useable space is generally thought to be consistent with better quality accommodation and homeowners and tenants are prepared to pay for it. If you added a bedroom to a two bed terraced to make a three bed terrace, it will add around 10% to the value of the property. Turn a three bed terraced into four bed terraced, and approximately 9% will be added to the value. Looking at semi-detached properties, turning a two into a three bed and around 12% will be added to the value, whilst making a three bed semi into a four bed will add 9% in value.