Good Morning, today we are heading to SL2 and this great one bedder on Littlebrook Avenue. For £250K you get a fantastic one bedder that would pull in about £1,000 PCM in rent.... that a pretty healthy return for the area! From the pics it looks really nicely down out so no DIY required just get straight back in the rental ads.
Give the guys and girls at Romans a call and click on the link below for more details.....
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58055156.html
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Maidenhead Landlords count the cost of a Tory Election win
Can you remember 10.05pm on Thursday, 7th May 2015 ... with
the shock news that BBC Exit Polls suggested the Conservatives would be
returned with majority? The middle classes in Burchetts Green and Woodlands
Park exhaled a huge sigh of relief, and Maidenhead landlords, faced with rent
controls from Red Ed and the Labour Party, now had something to cheer about as
the Tory’s were always considered to be a political party that accepted the
importance of the rental market, supported its development while properly
targeting the lawbreaker landlords renting out below standard rental
accommodation.
Since May though, George Osborne has announced future rises
in stamp duty for buy to let landlords and a change in the interest relief on
buy to let mortgages, and some people have started to question that loyalty.
However, things could have been a lot worse for Maidenhead landlords as the
idea of making landlord’s pay more tax by increasing Capital Gains Tax rates to
the landlord’s own income tax levels was seriously considered. If Landlords had
to pay capital gains tax of 40% to 45% on any uplift in value, I can tell you
here and now, that would have made investing in property a non starter for almost
everyone.
However, I will admit the loss of mortgage higher rate tax
relief will make a number of properties not stack up financially. The new rules
are likely to slow demand in the Maidenhead housing market, which is in fact
good news for the other landlords, as there is less competition from 'amateur' landlords
offering too much.
Just a thought, but making Maidenhead landlords think twice
and
run their numbers more cautiously is not such a bad thing.
So looking at the numbers, the December figures have just been
released and they show a 0% change in property values in Maidenhead over the
month of December. That figure doesn’t surprise me due to the time of year. It’s
quite dangerous to look at one month in isolation, so looking at a more medium
term view, over the last 12 months, property values in Maidenhead have risen by
10.3%, not bad when you consider inflation is running at -0.1%.
However, regular readers of the Maidenhead Property Blog
know my passion for looking deeper into the stats. The really interesting information
is the value growth, but what types of property are actually selling in Maidenhead?
Looking at all the properties sold, as
recorded by the Land Registry, within 3 miles of the centre of Maidenhead in
September 2015 (this data always runs a couple of months behind the house price
data) compared to September 2007 (a couple of months before the credit crunch
started to bite and the subsequent property crash).
|
Sept 2007
|
Sept 2015
|
Difference
|
Detached in Maidenhead
|
49
|
44
|
-10%
|
Semis in Maidenhead
|
51
|
31
|
-39%
|
Terraced Houses in Maidenhead
|
27
|
31
|
+15%
|
Apartments / Flats in Maidenhead
|
56
|
30
|
-46%
|
Now I have mentioned in previous articles that the numbers of
properties selling in the town has certainly dropped post 2008, but what amazed
me were the drop in the number of semis and apartments selling in Maidenhead
compared to the sales of terraced properties, which rose slightly.
Less properties are selling now than in the last decade in Maidenhead
and the types of properties selling have changed ...
interesting times ahead for the Maidenhead Property market!
Therefore, all I can say to the landlords of Maidenhead is
do your homework, make sure the numbers do stack up, take advice and opinion
from professionals and above all, for those of you planning to add to your
portfolio, buy the right property at the right price.
One place for such advice
and opinion on the Maidenhead Property market is the Maidenhead Property Blog
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Norfolk Road, Maidenhead SL6 - 5 Bed Detached - Huge Potential!
Good Morning! Just seen this place on Zoopla. For all those investors with a bit more to spend I think this place offers a variety of options in terms of maximising your returns. This house offers significant potential to split into individual flats which could offer you a monthly rental income of over £4,000 PCM.... Let me explain, I reckon you could convert this into one larger studio flat (c. £750 PCM return), three 1 bed flats (c. £900 PCM each) and one smaller studio flat (c. £700 PCM).... worth thinking about???
I have also included below a mock up of what this revised floor plan could look like.
Its on with Roger Platt for £750K.... take a look at the link below for some more details...
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39566987
I have also included below a mock up of what this revised floor plan could look like.
Its on with Roger Platt for £750K.... take a look at the link below for some more details...
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39566987
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Maidenhead Landlords could be fined £666,000 per year
“Who would want to move to Maidenhead in weather like
this?”, was what one landlord said to me as we shook hands outside his property
the other day. It was windy, cold, it had been raining most of the day and it
was the last appointment of the day at 4.45pm. I will admit, as I had been out
of the office all day, I was looking forward to getting home, putting the fire
on, and watching telly with a big mug of tea.
It turned out he had been self-managing the property himself
over the last few years, but was worried with all the new legislation that had been
introduced recently. He was particularly concerned about the up and coming
‘Right to Rent’ legislation, so he called us for our opinion on a new tenancy
after his current tenant had handed in their notice recently.
For those Maidenhead landlords that don’t know, landlords
will need to check the immigration status (i.e. the right to reside in the UK) of any
new tenants moving into properties from February 2016 or face a £3,000 fine. It
is called the 'Right to Rent' rules. Landlords should also be aware that as
well as traditional tenants, this also applies to tenants who sub-let rooms and
homeowners who take in lodgers.
Our landlord from Cookham wanted to know how much of a real
issue was ‘Right to Rent’ in Maidenhead. I was able to tell him that the last
available figures (from a couple of years ago) show that 222 people (whom were
registered as Non-UK Born Short-term Residents) moved into private rented
accommodation in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council area in
one year alone. Assuming none of those 222 people had the right to live in the
UK, this would equate to a fine of a whopping £666,000 to the landlords of the town.
It doesn’t sound a lot when you think there are 63,580
residents in Maidenhead, and of those, 51,808 people (or 81.48%) were born in
the UK. But Maidenhead is a cosmopolitan town as the country of birth of the
residents in Maidenhead can be split down as follows:
UK 81.48%
Ireland 1.08%
Europe 5.75%
Africa 2.79%
Middle East and Asia 6.95%
Americas and Caribbean 1.32%
Australia and Pacific region 0.58%
However, it must also be recognised that landlords, by checking
up on tenants, could potentially be accused of discrimination under the
Equality Act. This is a real minefield for landlords, especially when you
consider that not all of the 3,655 Europeans in the area necessarily have the
right to live in the UK either.
In a nutshell, Maidenhead landlords will need to check and
retain copies of certain documents that show a potential tenant has the right
to live in the UK. These include ....
UK Passport
EEA Passport/Identity card
Travel document or Permanent Residence Card showing
indefinite leave to remain
Paperwork from Home Office stating their Immigration status
Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British
citizen.
I hope the new law will target dishonest landlords who
repeatedly fail to carry out Right to Rent checks by making it a criminal
offence. This means they could face imprisonment for failing to check on their
tenants. That is why more and more landlords are asking agents to manage their properties,
so they can stay the right side of the law.
So what did our landlord do?
Well after our chat, he asked us to find a tenant and manage
the property for him - he had been reading the Maidenhead Property Blog for a
while and because of the knowledge we impart to the landlords of Maidenhead, we
obviously know what we are talking about.
Even better news for him, even though this would cost him agency fees, I
was able to get him an additional £85 per month for his property when we found
him a tenant one week later. Now, together with the peace of mind that we will
keep him the right side of the law and putting a stop to midnight phone calls complaining
about dripping taps, it was a win-win situation for everyone.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Palmers Close, Maidenhead - 3 bed end of terrace - Great Returns!
Good morning! This place has just come on the market with Robinsons for £365K, not much to go on the way of pics just yet I'm afraid! However, if this place is good to go this should get you about £1,300 a month in rental income which is a yield of over 4%. Thats not too shabby at all and above average. It's in a great location as well so the tenants will flock in!
Take a look at the link below for more details....
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57880550.html
Take a look at the link below for more details....
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57880550.html
Friday, February 12, 2016
Bell Street, Maidenhead - 2 Bed Terrace - Great Location!
Good evening everyone! Anything that comes up on Bell Street I think is worth bringing to your attention, the location alone will get a fair amount of interest from all those investors. This one may need some improvements here and there.....especially if bright blue and red carpets are not your thing.
Its on the market with Roger Platt for £400K..... there maybe some haggling to do here but its certainly worth the cost of a call to get some more details.
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39486976
Its on the market with Roger Platt for £400K..... there maybe some haggling to do here but its certainly worth the cost of a call to get some more details.
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39486976
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Will the young people of Maidenhead ever own their own home?
I had the most interesting chat with a mature couple (in
their early/mid 50’s) from Woodlands Park the other day, whilst viewing one of
our rental properties. The property wasn’t for them, but their son, who wanted
a second viewing with his parents to get the parental blessing. Now I know that
isn’t the norm, but in this case the parents were going to act as guarantor. We
got chatting about the Maidenhead property market and how they had bought their
first property in the town just after they got married in the late 1980’s when
they were in their early/mid 20’s. Anyway, we got chatting about how the
youngsters of the UK seem to rent more than buy nowadays and from that the
conversation covered a number of similar topics. I want to share the highlights
of that conversation with you today.
Their son, like many 20 to 30 year olds in Maidenhead,
desperately wants to own his own property and the parents said he had read in
the Telegraph recently, when you compare house prices to earnings, the current
20 to 30 something’s generation have to spend more of their salary in mortgage
payments than any previous generation. The demand for private rental sector
accommodation in Maidenhead is huge. There are in fact 3,652 private rental
properties in Maidenhead at the last count, impressive when you consider there
are only 242 council houses in the town. However, let us not forget 17,758
properties are owner occupied (9,452 with a mortgage).
Let us all be honest, private renting doesn’t have the
stigma it had a few decades ago and it might surprise people that even though
us Brit’s class ourselves as a nation of homeowners, roll the clock back 100
years and over 75% of people rented their own home (and it was all from private
landlords as council housing only started to come in with the ‘homes for
hero’s’ after the first World War). It might also surprise you to learn that at
the time of the 1971 census, still more people rented than owned their own
home.
Looking at the affordability issue, I have proved time and
time again, it is in fact cheaper to buy a property than rent, when one looks
at starter homes for first time buyers. 95% mortgages have been available to
first time buyers for over four years and whilst you could certainly find
better properties in better condition in better areas, a two bed maisonette apartments
can be bought for as little as the early £150,000’s in the Cookham Road / Moor
Lane area of Maidenhead (meaning a modest deposit of £7,500 would be required).
When it came to affordability, I was able to tell them that
when they bought their first house in Maidenhead in 1988, the ratio of house
prices to salary was 7.54 to 1 in Maidenhead ... and here was the surprise for
both of us, today’s ratio is only 6.53 to 1!
I said I believed there had been a cultural attitude change
towards renting property in Britain and that this quiet revolution was likely
to be permanent. In the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, saving for the deposit was
everything and buying a house was everything. Youngsters today have far much
more disposal income today than people had in the Callaghan and Thatcher years,
but choose to spend it upgrading their mobile phones every 12 months, the
newest tablet or PC, a newest 50” plasma LCD TV and two sun drenched holidays a
year, than go without and save for a deposit.
Yes, there are horror stories of tenants living in rat
infested properties with landlords who charge massive rents and don’t repair
their properties. But that is very much the exception as most tenants rent
homes of a quality and size they couldn’t afford to buy. Twenty years ago, if
you said you rented a property, you were considered the lowest of the low ... but
now it’s the norm.
So it does appear that the UK housing market is slowly but
surely turning into a more European model, where people rent for long periods
of their life, then eventually inherit their parents’ properties and
subsequently become homeowners themselves, albeit later in life.
Hence, I cannot see the demand for decent, high quality rental properties ever dropping in the next 10 to 20 years, but only ever increasing as the population begins to soar. Just make sure you buy the right property, at the right price, in the right location.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Corfe Place, Maidenhead - 1 Bed Flat - Will go in a flash!
Good Evening. Just see this place come on the market with Prospect for £230K - If you are a First Time Buyer, or an Investor who is just starting to build their portfolio you could do a lot worse then snapping up this one bedder in Corfe Place.
I think this is a fair price especially as it looks nicely kitted out and is good to go if you decide to flip this back onto the rental market. Because of the amount of investors looking to beat the April Stamp Duty deadline this will go in a flash I'm sure!
Get on the phone quickly to the guys at Prospect!
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38057487
I think this is a fair price especially as it looks nicely kitted out and is good to go if you decide to flip this back onto the rental market. Because of the amount of investors looking to beat the April Stamp Duty deadline this will go in a flash I'm sure!
Get on the phone quickly to the guys at Prospect!
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38057487
Monday, February 8, 2016
Clare Road, Maidenhead - 3 Bed Semi - Popular area and will go quickly!
Evening all! If you're looking for an investment property then Clare Road is definitely an area you should be considering. The tenants love this area and this means you should have little risk getting those nasty void periods..... there is a but though, this place needs some work and updating.
Its on the market with Connells for £420K so give them a call.... you will have too move quickly though!
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39447455
Its on the market with Connells for £420K so give them a call.... you will have too move quickly though!
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39447455
Thursday, February 4, 2016
The Croft, Maidenhead - 2 Bed - Refurb required
Anyone looking for a project this may just be the place for you.....? It's on the market with Romans for £290K, which given that other similar properties in this area are hovering around the £330K to £340K mark this place may have some potential. The Larchfield area is starting to increase in popularity with investors and owner occupiers so you could be onto a winner with this one.....
Without a doubt this place will have the punters flocking so there is a good chance that it will end in sealed bids..... so do your maths on those refurb costs before you get bidding!
There are more details below:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39705474.html
Without a doubt this place will have the punters flocking so there is a good chance that it will end in sealed bids..... so do your maths on those refurb costs before you get bidding!
There are more details below:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39705474.html
Maidenhead Property Market Crisis as New House Building drops by 36.84%
One of the key factors that determine the price of anything
is the demand and supply of the item that is being bought and sold. When it
comes to property, demand can change overnight, but it takes years and years to
build new properties, thus increasing the supply.
The Conservatives have pledged to build over 1 million homes
by 2020. I am of the opinion that as a country, irrespective of which party, we
have not built enough homes for decades, and if the gap between the number of
households forming and the number of new homes being built continues to grow,
we are in danger of not being able to house our children or grand children. I
believe the country is past the time for another grand statement of ambition by
another Housing Minister.
To give you an idea of the sorts of numbers we are talking
about, in the Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council area in 2006, 500
properties were built. In 2008 that rose to 550 and two years later in 2009, it
peaked at 570. By 2014, that figure had dropped by 36.84% to 360 properties
built.
The outcome of too few homes being built in Maidenhead means
the working people of the town are being priced out of buying their first home
and renters are not getting the quality they deserve for their money. The
local authority isn’t building the estates they were after the war and housing
associations are having their budgets tightened year on year, meaning they have
less money to spend on building new properties. Many Maidenhead youngsters are
living with their parents for longer because they cannot afford to get onto the
housing ladder and growing families are unable to buy the bigger homes they
need.
To compound the issue of a lack of sufficient new housing in
Maidenhead we also have the impact of Crossrail to contend with. As our rail
connections to London improve, so does the attraction of Maidenhead to the
London workforce, who is also getting priced out of the housing market.
Maidenhead
has long been a commuting hub into London with its excellent rail links, but by
2019 when Crossrail arrives we will be, to all intents and purpose, living in a
London suburb. This will do nothing but increase demand for housing which is
already in short supply – If we don’t see a sharp increase in investment in new
house building to counteract this then I believe we will see house prices in
this area continue to spiral upwards, just as they have done in London. Great
news for investors, but not such good news for those struggling to get on the
housing ladder.
If you are looking to buy a house, either as an investment
or as a first step onto the property ladder, my advice would be to not delay as
prices are only going in one direction – Up!. One source of further info on all
of these issues, where you will find other articles similar to this on the Maidenhead
property market, is the Maidenhead Property Blog.
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