walsall property

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?

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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?

Continue reading →

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….

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Walsall Property Market or The London Stock Exchange? Where shall I put my savings…??

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

House Cash

It is almost 7 years since Mervyn King, the then Bank of England Governor, slashed UK interest rates to the unparalleled figure of 0.5% – 5th March 2009 to be precise!  In just under five months, starting on 8th October 2008, the rate had come down from 4.5% to that low figure, all in an attempt to ensure the British economy survived the worldwide credit crunch and there it has stayed since.

In the Summer of 2015, people were predicting a rise in the New Year, yet now, some forecast it may stay at this level for years yet to come with the issues in China.  Now, I am not some City Whiz kid with a hotline to Mr Carney at Threadneedle Street, but merely a humble letting agent from Walsall, so I cannot profess to know what will happen to interest rates.  However, what I do know, speaking to my Walsall friends and Walsall landlords is that these low interest rates have hit savers really hard.

Continue reading →

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

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

david_cameron_3

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.

Continue reading →

SOLD!! 3 Bed Semi in Delves, Walsall, WS5 – Yields of 6.0%

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Buy to Let Property Deals , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_8097

Just thought for a change I would inform you about a property I wrote about on the blog a few weeks ago.  The property has now been sold (STC).  At this stage I’m not sure if it has been purchased as a principal home or for buy to let.  I will monitor this and confirm on a later post once the figures are in.  The full details of my post can be found below by following the link:

Continue reading →

“Bog Standard Terraced” A Hidden Gem. 2 Bed, Green Lane, Bloxwich, Walsall Yields of 6.7%.

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Buy to Let Property Deals , , , , , , ,

01 02 03 04

This 2 bed mid terrace house is situated on Green Lane, Bloxwich, Walsall, WS2.  The asking price is in the region of £85000 with Goodchilds (01922 312016).  Check it out here:

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38855657?search_identifier=bc0cc006bcc7eda93b15e9ab350ffb13#fQ5fZWvtWVkBFBhP.97

Certainly, from the outside, I wouldn’t say it’s much to look at, “Bog standard terraced”, comes to mind.However, taking a look on the inside is where this one really shines. Continue reading →