After the shock of the Conservatives returning to power with
a majority at Westminster, all the potential issues and possible uncertainties
of a hung parliament has lifted the cloud from the Maidenhead property
market. Talking to Maidenhead Estate Agents, surveyors and solicitors in the area over the last few days, there are
signs this has started a new impetus in the Maidenhead property market after a
subdued six months, when an amalgamation of tougher lending conditions, a
natural correction after the strong recovery in Maidenhead property prices in
2014, and political uncertainty ahead of the General Election slowed demand.
Against the back drop of Labour’s election promises of rent
controls and three year tenancies, some Maidenhead buy to let landlords were
waiting to see how these new policies would be implemented before they
committed themselves to buying more property for their buy to let portfolio.
Now that uncertainty has been removed, the long term picture is very positive.
So, with all that uncertainty now removed, where next for
the Maidenhead property market? Well
with inflation at zero and with the Money markets happy David Cameron is still
at No.10, the Bank of England have no reason to raise interest rates until 2016
at the earliest. As mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since 2010,
landlords with large deposits will now be wooed by the mortgage companies in
the coming months with low rates.
You see over the past couple of years, Maidenhead landlords
have benefitted from a booming Maidenhead job market. Unemployment in Maidenhead
has dropped to 1.1%, as a year ago, 799 people were claiming unemployment
benefit compared to today’s 548. With more jobs and better pay, as the level of
rents is directly linked to tenant’s wages, there has been an increase in the
rental prices tenants are willing to pay for good quality Maidenhead
properties.
Some landlords might be nervous about Tory’s plans for the
housing market over the next five years in terms of tenant demand for their
rental properties. One plan is for Housing Association tenants to have the
right to buy their property. These kind of tenants were never in the private
rented sector and will actually increase the supply of properties in the
housing stock in decades to come. The Government ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ has only
helped to buy 39 Maidenhead properties since April 2013. Considering 1,244
properties have changed hands in the last year alone in Maidenhead, I don’t
think it has made a huge difference to our local property market.
The biggest matter, when it comes to tenant demand of rental
property going forward, comes from the shift in the mind-set and attitudes
towards renting itself. Twenty years ago you were seen as a second-class
citizen if you rented a property. In Maidenhead, as in the rest of the UK
(apart from Central London), renting continues to offer good value for money
for tenants. If you are an existing
landlord in Maidenhead or thinking of becoming one (or as estate agents like to
call you... a FTL... a ‘first time landlord’), then I must suggest you may want
to seek out advice and opinions from trusted sources and other landlords you
may know?? I will happily continue to give you my opinion on the current state
of the market and the advantages/disadvantages to investing in the Maidenhead
property market via this blog.
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