Walsall News

All aboard the Walsall Property Market Runaway Train!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
All aboard the Walsall Property Market Runaway Train!!
All aboard the Walsall Property Market Runaway Train!!

Some of my landlords invest for yield, some invest for capital growth (however, it’s very difficult to get both in this market).  Everyone is different; if you are a landlord in Walsall, who invests for capital growth as opposed to yield, it is crucial to look to build in capital growth in a  property by getting a property at a discount or by finding a way to add value.

So, how can you get a discount in this property market, with Walsall property values alight and property being snapped up over night?  Achieving capital growth in Walsall is going to be tough over the coming few years isn’t it?

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Rents in Walsall Increase!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
Rents in Walsall Increase!!
Rents in Walsall Increase!!

I was reading the Sunday newspapers last weekend whilst drinking my favourite concoction of freshly juiced Apple & Mango juice, when I spotted an article in the financial pages.  It was announced that UK inflation had increased to its highest level in a year.  Inflation, as calculated by the Government’s Consumer Prices Index, rose by 0.3% over the last 12 months.  The report said it had risen to those ‘heady’ levels by smaller falls in supermarket and petrol prices than a year ago.  If you recall, in early 2015, we had deflation where prices were dropping!

So what does this mean for the Walsall property market … especially the tenants?

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Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Renting used to be a dirty word in the 60’s and 70’s.  You either lived in a ‘Rigsby Rising Damp’ style bedsit with wood chip on the wall and a coin operated electric meter that buzzed in the night, or you lived in a council house.  In the latter part of the 20th Century, the British were persuaded that rent payments were ‘wasted money’.  However, owning often makes less financial sense than renting and as the rate of home ownership is starting to drop substantially, as we roll the clock forward to today, there is no stigma at all to renting.. everyone is doing it.  In fact, of the 269,323 residents of Walsall, 96,418 of you rent your house from the local authority, housing association or private landlords – meaning 35.8% of Walsall people are tenants.

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Walsall landlords and ex-council properties. Would you buy one?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Walsall landlords and ex-council properties. Would you buy one?
Walsall landlords and ex-council properties. Would you buy one?

Do you remember the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme my Walsall Property Blog readers? The ‘Right to Buy’ (RTB) scheme was a policy introduced by Maggie Thatcher in October 1980 which gave secure council tenants the legal right to buy the Council home they were living in with huge discounts.  The heyday of Council ‘Right To Buys’ was in the 80’s and 90’s, when 1,719,368 homes in the country were sold in this manner between October 1980 and April 1998.  However, in 1997, Tony Blair’s New Labour reduced the discount available to tenants of council houses and the numbers of properties being bought under the RTB declined.

So what does this mean for Walsall homeowners and landlords?  Well quite a lot in fact!

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EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?
EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?

In recent weeks concerned Walsall landlords have been asking my opinion on the looming EU vote.  “As a landlord which way should we vote”?  “IN or OUT”?  So, this week I thought I would share my thoughts on this subject.

If you read all the tabloids, the ‘Brexit’ debate seems to be focused solely on central London.  Many commentators have said Brexit would mean central London would have a lower standing in the world, meaning less people would be employed in central London, with the implication of lower wages, fewer jobs etc… but we are in Walsall, not Marylebone, Mayfair or any part of Zone 1 London!

For years – no, decades – the anti-EU camp has suggested that Britain’s natural habitat is not among its continental neighbours but in ‘the Anglosphere’, that solar system of English-speaking planets which revolves around the United States.  Break free from Brussels and we could embrace our kindred spirits in Sydney, Toronto and especially New York, Washington and Los Angeles.  The Brexit camp has long been like the man who dreams of leaving his wife for another woman, one who really understands him.

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Where are the Walsall youngsters going to live?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Where are the Walsall youngsters going to live?
Where are the Walsall youngsters going to live?

When my parents bought their first house in Walsall in the late 1960’s, they were in their early 20’s. Interestingly, looking at some research by the Post Office from a few years ago, in the 1960’s the average age people bought their first house was 23.  By the early 1970s, it had reached 27, rising to 28 in the early 1980’s.

This year alone, 3,538 people in Walsall will turn 28 and 3,560 in 2017.. and dare I say 3,740 in 2018 .. year in year out the conveyor belt carries on .. where are the Walsall youngsters going to live?

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Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?
Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?

Walsall’s continuing housing shortage is putting the Borough (and the Country’s) repute as a nation of home owners ‘under threat’, as the number of houses being built continues to be woefully inadequate in meeting the ever demanding needs of the growing population in the Town.  In fact, I was talking to my sister the other day at a family get together; the subject of the Walsall Property market came up in the conversation (as I am sure it does at many family parties in Walsall, after the weather and politics).  My sister said it used to be that if you went out to work and did the right thing, you would expect that relatively quickly over the course of your career you would be buying a house, you would go on holiday every year and you would save for a pension.   But now things seem to have changed?

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Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?
Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?

I  had an interesting email from someone in Walsall a few weeks ago that I want to share with you – don’t worry I asked his permission to share this with you all.  In a nutshell, the gentleman lives in Streetly, he is in his mid 60’s and still working.  He has a decent pension, so that when he does retire in a couple of years’ time, it will give him a comfortable life.  He had recently inherited £110,000 from an elderly family member.  One option he was considering was to put it into a savings account.  The best he could find was a 2 year bond with the Post Office which paid 1.9%; meaning he would get £2,090 in interest a year.

One of his other options was to buy a property in Walsall to rent out….

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Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!
Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!

I find myself in a reflective mood today as I want to talk about the future of investing in property in Walsall.  Especially since my last article (which was a little gloomy) and the fast changing dynamics in recent times of the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

The truth is that we have got lethargic, with many property investment people having mistaken the ever-rising Walsall property market since the 1960’s as the eternal gift that kept giving as property prices constantly rose and doubled every five to seven years.

The days of making easy money from any old property investment in Walsall are over.

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Has Mr Osborne finally delivered the sucker punch to Walsall landlords?!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Has Mr Osborne finally delivered the sucker punch to Walsall landlords?!
Has Mr Osborne finally delivered the sucker punch to Walsall landlords?!

Ding, Ding!!  Seconds out – Round 8!  George Osborne today delivered his 8th Budget Statement as Chancellor of the Exchequer.  Many consider the number 8 the luckiest of all numbers, and in Chinese culture it is favoured by business due to its association with prosperity, wealth and success.  Although, in boxing terms, not many fighters predict a knock out in round 8.  So, has Mr Osborne finally delivered the sucker punch to Walsall landlords?!

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