Walsall News

Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

One of my out of Town property landlords called me as he was coming to visit his family and friends towards the end of the month during the Easter break.  He was born and brought up in Walsall and went to the Alumwell Business and Enterprise College which, as he recalls, used to be called the Alumwell Secondary School (way before my time of course!!).

To enhance his retirement, he has a small portfolio of four properties in the Walsall and surrounding area and wanted my advice on where to purchase his next buy to let property.  As a University lecturer he lives in a college-owned flat and would never dream of buying where he lives in Kensington where the average value of a flat is £1.62m and a house averages out at £4.1m.

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Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!
Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG (Oh My Gosh/ God for the old school peeps), said one of our tenants signing up last Saturday!!  This is when they saw the load of paperwork they had to sign.  Gone are the days when you could just ask for a word of mouth referral, collect a copy of a Tenancy Agreement from the local WH Smith and Bob’s your tenant (or is it??).

Amongst the hoard of documents I had were the Right to Rent Guide, copy of the Energy Performance Certificate, a current Gas Cert, an Electric Report, a Schedule of Conditions and Inventory, Prescribed Information and Terms & Conditions of the deposit scheme where the deposit was registered/ kept plus a few other bits…so the sharp intake of breath was understandable.

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Would you rent your Walsall property to a Housing Benefit applicant?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Would you rent your Walsall property to a housing benefit applicant?
Would you rent your Walsall property to a housing benefit applicant?

“What does the ideal Walsall tenant look like?”, asked one of my landlords from Brownhills the other day, to which he carried on before I could reply, “Let me guess, a professional couple, both in their 30’s, flawlessly tidy, pays their rent early, doesn’t complain or fuss, with no plans to move any time soon and cheerfully accepts annual rent rises”.

Before I can answer that question properly, I have always believed all a landlord wants, and expects, of their tenants is to pay their rent on time and look after the property as if it were their own.  In return, the landlord should provide a property that is warm, clean, and damp free and resolve any maintenance issues quickly and without fuss.

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Do Walsall Landlords ‘Regret’ voting for a Tory government…?!

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

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Do you still remember that inevitable night of Thursday, 7th May 2015 at 10.05pm….??  With the shocking news that the BBC Exit Polls suggested the Conservatives would be returning into government with a majority.  Well let’s face it…it wasn’t that shocking as a two-horsed race can only be won by one.  The middle classes in Parkhall and Aldridge exhaled a huge sigh of relief, as Walsall landlords, faced with rent controls from Red Ed Milliband and the Labour Party, now had something to cheer about as the Tories were always considered to be a political party that accepted the importance of the rental market, supported its development whist properly targeting the lawbreaker/ slum landlords renting out sub standard rental accommodation.

Since May though, George Osborne announced future rises in stamp duty for buy to let landlords and a change in the interest relief on buy to let mortgages,some people have started to question that loyalty.

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Are Walsall tenants priced out of the Walsall Property Market?

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

Cash Pic

I had an interesting chat with a property landlord the other day about my thoughts on the Walsall Property Market.  The subject of the affordability gap between renting property in Walsall against purchasing came up in conversation and how that would affect tenant demand.  As a local Property Manager I have noticed how, in recent years, our tenancies are being sustained with tenants staying with us for longer.  So my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to take a look at the figures.  Here’s what I found…

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Walsall Property Prices Cut…But Values Go Up!

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

UPDOWN

Those of you who regularly read my weekly articles in the Walsall Property Blog will know I like to keep abreast of the Walsall Property Market.  Something attracted my attention this week about the local property market, something I wanted to share with my many readers.

Over the last month, there appears to have been an anomaly in the local property market, whereby asking prices in the town have dropped, yet property values have increased.  The average asking price of a Walsall property, according to Rightmove, fell 1.1% this month yet the average value of a Walsall property rose by 1.2%.

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