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Croydon Property Deals, 78 beckenham Road, Bromley (2026)

18/12/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Traditional deposits unpopular – In a recent survey by Zero Deposit, the tenant insurance company, 59% of respondents stated that, given the chance, they would have opted for an alternative deposit scheme if it allowed them to reduce the initial cost of securing their rental property. Another 76% were in the dark about the other potential options available to them. It’s clear then that more needs to be done to get the message out to renters and landlords of alternatives.

▶️ Empty properties on the rise – New research from specialist lender, Market Financial Solutions (MFS) has revealed the number of empty properties has increased. Or there is certainly a feeling of an increase. Of 2,000 people surveyed, 58% have seen a rise in the number of empty properties on their local high street over the past five years, while 25% say there has been an increase in the number of empty or derelict houses on their street in the same period. Surely, the better use of empty properties is crucial to solving the UK's housing shortage.

▶️ UK interest rates remain unchanged – As widely expected, the Bank of England decided to leave UK interest rates unchanged at 5.25%. This is welcome news for many owners up and down the country. Even better, money markets are now predicting that the Bank of England will reduce interest rates to 4% by the end of next year. Others, such as Goldman Sachs, predicted an even sharper reduction in 2024, down to at least 3.75% by the end of the year.

09/12/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Leasehold ban delayed –The UK government's proposed ban on the sale of new leasehold houses has not been included in its Leasehold and Freehold Reform bill to reform housing rights. Ministers had indicated that the new bill would ban the sale of new leasehold houses in England and Wales but the government then went on to say that the ban will be added to the bill at a later stage in its passage through Parliament.

▶️ House prices rise – According to the latest research by lender Nationwide house prices have risen for the third consecutive month in the UK. Prices rose by 0.2% in November and resulted in an improvement in the annual rate of house price growth from -3.3% in October, to -2.0%. And so, while growth remains weak, it is the strongest sustained performance for nine months.

▶️ Rental demand has tripled since pandemic – According to the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) the number of private landlords who report increased demand for rental properties has more than tripled compared with the demand for properties seen before the COVID pandemic. The data shows that 71% of landlords reported increased tenant demand in Q3 2023 which is up from 65% the same time last year, and 22% in Q3 2019 before the pandemic.

30/11/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ 2023 Autumn Statement – The main things to come of the Autumn Statement as far as the property market is concerned are:
• The Mortgage Guarantee scheme will be extended for an additional 18 months until the end of June 2025
• Mortgage Interest Tax Relief – additional support provided for people on low incomes by unfreezing local housing allowance which could work out to be around £800 per household.
• New Homes – An additional £450m has been allocated to local authority housing fund to deliver 2,400 new homes.
Despite these announcements, it was generally viewed with disappointment by the UK housing industry.

▶️ EPC proposals unpopular – According to the latest research by lender Landbay, 74% of landlords surveyed welcome the government’s decision to scrap the proposal that all rental property must have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of at least C by 2028. The expense and difficulty of retrofitting older properties are seen as the main barrier by landlords to upgrading property to meet the EPC standards.

▶️ Rental affordability improves in capital – Month after month things seem to be more difficult for renters up and down the country so it comes as welcome news to discover that London has seen the largest improvement in rental market affordability over the last five years. Lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, analysed ONS data and found that even though London remains the least affordable region of England for renters, the capital has seen rental affordability improve when compared to 2017. The current level of income required to cover the cost of renting has fallen from 50% in 2017 to the 35% required today.

05/11/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀
▶️ Which areas have increased in value? – Some interesting analysis has been done by Yopa, the estate agency, which investigated how each area of the UK property market has performed since the end of the last market downturn in 2009. The London market has flourished the most, with property price growth sitting at 39.2% over the last 14 years. Specifically, 7 of the top 10 highest growth areas were in the capital, led by Waltham Forest in North London which has grown by 68.4%, followed by the City of London, with an increase of 68.1% and Hackney, at 65.6%.

▶️ Slight uplift in house price growth in October – Average UK house prices saw a slight increase in October of 0.9% month on month, but remain lower than a year ago which are still down 3.3% on this time last year, according to latest data from Nationwide. And housing market activity has remained very weak, with just 43,300 mortgages approved for house purchase in September, around 30% below the monthly average that was seen in 2019.

▶️ UK property market to avoid crash – According to a panel of industry experts brought together by finder.com, the personal finance comparison website, even though the UK property market still has some way to fall, a full-blown crash is not expected. Almost three quarters of the experts interviewed (73%) believe that house prices only will fall between 5% – 10% between now and autumn 2024.

03/11/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀
▶️ Rental supply remains low – According to the latest Housing Insights Report from Propertymark the level of rental properties in the UK market remains drastically low. The average number of properties available to rent per member branch in September 2023 remained broadly the same as in August 2023 at 11 properties and more significantly, there has been little fluctuation in supply levels over the last 12 months. The consequence of this is that continued imbalance of supply and demand in the rental sector put upwards pressure on rental prices.

▶️ 33% of landlords plan to expand – According to lender Landbay, 32% of buy-to-let landlords said they intend to buy property in the next 12 months. This shows that despite high-interest rates and uncertainty in the rental sector there is still an appetite for further house purchases. A further 25% said they were undecided on their future plans but if opportunities arose, they might consider further purchases.

▶️ Has the property market turned a corner? – According to new research by high street estate agents, Foxtons, after nearly a year on from the government's reckless mini-budget, the capital's struggling property market has finally turned a corner, with an uplift in activity helping to restimulate the market. Sellers are returning in their numbers, with the number of homes listed for sale hitting 101,457 in September of this year, marking a full return to pre-mini budget market conditions. Buyer demand also seems to be up with buyer applicant levels increasing by 27% between September and October 2023.

21/10/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Average buy to let yields sit at only 3.4% – According to research by estate agent, Benham and Reeves, net rental yields sit at just 3.4% once the costs of maintaining a buy-to-let property are accounted for. This has increased from 3% over the last year. Investing in the average buy-to-let property across the UK costs £289,824, with the average property currently generating £1,276 per month in rent. This equates to a gross rental yield of 5.3% which is up from 4.8%, the yield of 12 months ago.

▶️ 25% of landlords plan to sell up – The property market has been so uncertain for landlords in recent months that up to 25% of them are planning to sell in the next 12 months according to a recent report by Simply Business which surveyed 1,455 UK landlords. Changing regulations, and rising costs are the other main reasons why landlords are planning such action.

▶️ Renters Reform Bill – This proposed piece of legislation has been one of the main reasons causing such uncertainty for landlords. And the Bill will have its second reading on Monday next week, but uncertainty over whether the Bill will proceed or not has made it difficult for landlords and renters to plan for the future.

08/10/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Interest only mortgages increase in popularity – According to new data by insights agency, Opinium, growing numbers of property owners are seeing interest-only mortgages as an appealing option. When quizzed on the main reasons of why this is, the top three were owners hoping to lower monthly costs (57%), owners struggling with current mortgage payments (41%), followed by trying to keep month-to-month housing costs low (41%). A further one in five (21%) said they plan to downsize.

▶️ Autumn the busiest time for sellers – In what will come as a surprise for many, Barrows and Forrester, the estate agents, analysed property transaction data stretching back over the last decade and found that September, October, and November have seen the largest number of homes sold over the last 10 years. The summer months are often commonly seen as the best months to sell because of the weather but this claim is not backed up by the data.

▶️ Houses prices fall, again – According to latest data from the Nationwide Building Society house prices in London have fallen 3.8 per cent since interest rate hikes began. This means that on average a London property is £20,220 less valuable in September 2023 than the previous year, largely because higher interest rates have made mortgages pricier and homes less affordable for buyers. But a full house price crash is unlikely according to experts.

03/10/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Interest rates stay at 5.25% – This news was welcomed by many last week as inflation reduced markedly in August, therefore reducing the need for another rate increase. And the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates further in 2023 according to the latest UK Economic Outlook report by S&P Global Ratings. However, the BoE may not start actually lowering rates again until the second quarter of 2024 the report predicts. This has not stopped quite a number of lenders such as Landbay and Keystone this week cutting the rates on a range of mortgage products.

▶️ Government U-turn on EPC – In what will come as welcome news for many landlords, but may be not so much for their tenants, the Prime Minister last week backtracked on previous policy with an acknowledgement that the costs of upgrading homes for EPC purposes are huge and very likely to be passed on as higher rents for tenants. Instead, he said the Government will offer money as an incentive to landlords and homeowners to upgrade their properties and further added that the EPC changes that were due to go live for existing tenancies in 2028 are now to be scrapped. For those landlords that have already invested in upgrading they can perhaps be reassured that an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of an A or B is seen as more attractive for buyers.

▶️ More fallout after the EPC U-turn – According to Shawbrook’s latest research, a whopping 80% of UK landlords said they were already prepared for the 2025 EPC regulation deadline before the government went ahead and cancelled those plans. Of these landlords, 30% said their properties already have an EPC rating of A-C, while 50% said they had plans in place to improve their EPC rating before 2025. 17% said they were not prepared and had no plans to improve the EPC rating of their property and worryingly, 3% said they had not heard of the regulation at all.

21/09/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀
▶️ Rents at their most expensive for 10 years – Zoopla released their latest report this week in which it was revealed that rental affordability is now at its most challenging for a decade. Average rents nationwide have leapt by £110 per month over the last twelve months, and as a percentage of average earnings it has increased from 27.2% to its current number of 28.4%.

▶️ Cost of selling increases – Research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, worked out that the average cost of selling a home in the UK is £5,413. This includes the estate agent fee, the cost of conveyancing, additional solicitor costs, as well as the Energy Performance Certificate report. Estate agency costs, account for 81% of the total cost, at around £4,400. It comes as no surprise that London is the most expensive place to sell with London home sellers needing to budget for around £11,479 in order to sell.

▶️ Positive news on mortgage rates – UK lenders have been reducing their rates for several weeks, and over the last few days there have been a number of further reductions, such as with the Halifax. And brokers have heralded a five-year 4.99% fixed-rate deal by The Mortgage Works, which is said to be the first sub-5% fixed deal that has been seen since late June. This could help lift borrower confidence with more offers likely soon.

16/09/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Limited company purchases ever popular – According to the latest research by Paragon Bank of nearly 1,000 landlords it revealed that 74% of landlords who intend to purchase buy-to-let property in the next 12 months will do so via a Limited Company. It is said that this popularity has existed since the mortgage interest relief changes introduced by the Government in 2017, but it has also increased in popularity in the past year. Buying via a Limited Company structure offers a number of tax benefits such as allowing one to deduct mortgage interest from company income.

▶️ House price growth continues to fall – According to latest data from Halifax average house prices fell by a further -1.9% in August, the largest monthly fall since November 2022 and sees the price of a typical UK home now £14,000 down from where it was this time last year. It is said that a further decrease in property prices is expected through to the end of this year and into next, in line with previous forecasts.

▶️ Rents continue to rise – New data from HomeLet, the landlord insurance company, has revealed that average UK rental prices have continued to rise across all regions, with the average rent, excluding London, now £1,051 per month, up 1.4%, while prices in London have continued to rise to a new high of £2,145 per month, up 1.7%.

07/09/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ First time buyer demand down – According to the latest research by online bank, First Direct, first-time buyer application volumes were down almost 40% in July. First-time buyer applications went from 41,236 in June to 25,663 in July. It is felt that the impact of the recent interest rate increases has led to a reduction in mortgage applications, or some people may be delaying house purchases due to the adverse market conditions.

▶️ House price growth dips – According to Nationwide's latest report annual house price growth slumped to -5.3% in August, down from -3.8% in July and the lowest rate since July 2009. In real terms, this drop represents an annual loss of nearly £14,600 on a typical home.

▶️ Sluggish market conditions – This dip is not surprising. In the first half of 2023, the number of completed housing transactions was nearly 20% below pre-pandemic (2019) levels and nearly 40% lower than in the first half of 2021. Buy-to-let purchases were also nearly 30% below pre-pandemic levels. However, despite this sluggishness, cash purchases were actually up 2% over the same time period.

29/08/2023

🏀 3 point Property Market Update 🏀

▶️ Cheaper to rent than buy – According to the latest research by Zoopla, the rise in mortgage rates over recent months means that it is now cheaper to rent a home than to buy one for the first time since 2010. The average UK rent is £1,163 per month, while average mortgage repayments are £1,285 for first-time buyers on a 15% deposit.

▶️ Adults staying with parents for longer – According to new data by the Office for National Statistics the number of adults in the UK that bought a home after living with their parents totalled to 98k in 2021/22, compared to only 63k in 2012/13. This suggests that young adults are living with their parents for longer in order to save to purchase a property. This means that the number of young adults avoiding renting in favour of homeownership after moving out of their parent’s home has risen by 55%.

▶️ 42% of UK consumers rarely visit high street – This is according to a survey of over 1,000 UK consumers, commissioned by Sirius Property Finance. More specifically, when asked how often they visit, 32% stated that they rarely head to their high street, while a further 10% don’t visit at all. The main reason is due to the availability of online retail options, with 54% saying they are likely to look to purchase something online before heading to their local retail outlets.

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