Thorneycroft Close- A Great Buy

This two double bedroom house has just been reduced by Newton Huxely to just £315,000.

This is now a fab buy to let renting for approx. £1,200 per calender month.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34241190.html

Bridge Court- Town Centre Living!

This great two double bed apartment has just come on the market with our friends at James Neave for just £275,000!

In Walton Town Centre and still in as new condition this would easily fetch £1,200 per calender month!

Get yourslef book in fast before this one gets snapped up.

http://www.jamesneave.co.uk/property-details/3127271/surrey/walton-on-thames/bridge-street-1

Kilsha Road- A Great Buy To Let

This great size two bed house has just come on the market for sale with Rice & Roman for £279,950.

This is in a great location just round the corner from a popular school and within walking distance of Walton Town Centre.

You could expect to achieve £1,050 per calender month for this.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51870107.html

Dallington Close- Open Day 2nd May

This great two bedroom apartment has just come on the market for just £245,000 with Rawlinson & Webber.

In a great location in Hersham and with a separate garage this is a great buy and would rent for around £1,200 per calender month.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34314018.html

Ashley Park- Simply Stunning!

This beautiful property has just come on the market with Curchods for £3,250,000.

Gated, detached, as many bathrooms and there are bedrooms, this home is a real treat set in the prestigious Ashley Park.

http://curchods.com/display/249451

 

Two Speed Walton-On-Thames Property Market?

Even with the General Election on the horizon, property values in Walton-On-Thames are still 1.02% higher than they were 3 months ago, the diversion and ambiguity of an election typically makes house sellers who need to sell price their property more realistically (although this only lasts a couple of months). Looking specifically at it from a Walton-On-Thames landlord’s point of view, the Walton-On-Thames properties favoured by investors are in short supply in many parts of the town because of a number of factors. One of the factors has been that we seen the number of first time buyers coming to buy their first home increase over the last 12 months in Walton-On-Thames.  Another factor has been that the banks have been pushing ‘let to buy’ (yes ‘let to buy’ is different to ‘buy to let’) to homeowners (more of ‘let to buy’ in an up and coming article). Next, because of the banks, who are chasing low risk landlords with high deposits with very low mortgage rates- and the low risk landlords with high deposits tend to be attracted to the safer modern two and three bed town houses and semis in Walton-On-Thames.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, the pension rules are changing which means buy to let landlords can use some, or all, of their pension pot to buy a property.  It shouldn’t be forgotten there are tax implications taking more than a quarter of your pension pot out (see the article from a couple of weeks ago), so whilst many pension pots may not be able to fund a suitably big enough tax free lump sum to buy the property outright, for most it will provide enough for the 25% deposit (required by most BTL mortgage providers). It shouldn’t be forgotten landlords that the interest paid on the mortgage is tax deductible against the rent, thus lowering your income tax paid. 

In the last 12 months, I have noticed a particular uplift in interest from ‘50 something’ Walton-On-Thames people wanting to become landlords for the first time. In Walton-On-Thames, the highest returns for the lowest investment are at the lower end of the market e.g. the classic apartment. Unfortunately, apartments with one bedroom are coming to the market in smaller numbers than the larger four beds in top end sectors of the Walton-On-Thames property market. When looking at the actual numbers, in the later part of the summer of 2014 in Walton-On-Thames, in one month alone 32 one bed apartments were on the market in Walton-On-Thames. However, in January this year, a notoriously excellent bumper month for properties coming on to the market, there were only 10 one bed apartments on the market in Walton-On-Thames to choose from. Today, that figure stands at only 14, whilst the number of four and five beds has increased significantly ...  interesting don’t you think?

At that lower end of the property market in Walton-On-Thames, (i.e. where first time buyers and landlord investors compete with each other to buy those smaller properties), I believe throughout 2015, there will be a slow and steady tipping of the scales between supply and demand. In fact, from what I am seeing and hearing, early anecdotal evidence has suggested over the last few months (although we will need to look at figures later in the Spring once we have the data from The Land Registry), we are beginning to see a polarised Walton-On-Thames property market, where we have high demand but low supply at the bottom end of the property market, yet high supply but lower demand at the top of market... and that can only mean one thing... prices will go up quicker on the smaller properties than the larger ones in Walton-On-Thames, thus narrowing the gap for people looking to move up market!

Rents Paid By Tenants In Walton-On-Thames On The Rise

With Easter just gone and considering we are a quarter of the way through 2015, I was talking to a landlord from Weybridge the other day about what is happening to the level of rents that are being achieved in the Walton-On-Thames property market. 

 

The rents that new tenants have to pay in Walton-On-Thames (ie when the tenant moves out and new tenant moves in) have risen in the order of 3.8% in the last 12 months. However, we are finding landlords with sitting tenants are not increasing their rents to their existing sitting tenants. This is because most of these landlords prefer to keep their existing tenant paying the same rent and have the peace of mind that they will have no void period, than risk if the tenant decides to leave and new one can’t be found to replace them. However, I believe that risk is very small indeed.

It must be remembered rents dropped by 2% over 2008/9, due to oversupply in the rental market in 2009.) A lot of the people who couldn’t sell their property in Walton-On-Thames in 2008/9 when the Credit Crunch hit in 2008, decided to let their house out instead of selling at a loss. In fact, the number of houses on the market in Walton-On-Thames dropped by 53.5% between June 2007 and November 2009, a lot of which came on to the rental market. However, looking at the longer term though, tenants have had it good  because since the turn of the Millennium, average wages have grown by 46%, but rents outside London have only grown by 36% rental growth over this period.

I told the landlord that there is a lack of new rental properties in Walton-On-Thames coming on the market, in fact according to the Office of National Statistics, there are only 3 new rental properties are coming to the market each month in Walton-On-Thames but the population is rising by 12 people a month – something will have to give soon! This is compounded by the fact a number of landlords are looking to sell their rental properties in the coming months, as the property market in Walton-On-Thames has improved. This further compounded as tenants in existing rental properties appear to be staying in properties for longer periods of time.

Looking at the rents charged in Walton-On-Thames, historic evidence in the UK suggests private market rents have moved in line with general inflation. Government figures only go back as far as the year 2000, but looking at other countries with similar housing markets (America, Australia, Ireland and Holland) the fact is rents paid by tenants tend to rise in line or just ahead of inflation.

As short term wage growth in Walton-On-Thames has eased off recently, rising by only 1.3% in the last 12 months, taking average salaries in Walton-On-Thames to £35,692pa, with the tax breaks announced by The Chancellor in the Budget, I believe, even though rents have kept pace with inflation in the past, renting as an option has become more affordable, and is increasingly seen as a lifestyle choice. With returning economic growth and expected increases in the rate of growth of wages, above inflation rental growth could rise. 

If you want a chat about the local Walton-On-Thames property market, pop in for a coffee or email me on marcel@rochills.co.uk.

Thorneycroft Close- A great house

This two bedroom house has just come to the market with our friends at Martin Flashman for £329,950.

In great condition you could easily rent this out for £1,300 per calender month so get yourself booked in before this one goes quick!

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1399974/

Hersham Property Market – What is really happening?

I had an interesting conversation with a local Hersham accountant the other day. He is quite an observant chap (I know this because I have known him for a few years... but I suppose you have to be to be an accountant!). Anyway, he mentioned a few things he had noticed recently in Hersham, one that Hersham property prices had gone up in the last few years but nowhere near the growth levels that were being achieved in central London, and secondly, that he thought the number of For Sale boards in Hersham (and more importantly ones with sold slips on them) had increased over the last couple of years.

The rate of house price inflation in Hersham continues to slow with growth of 12.4% in the 12 months to February compared to 14.1% just under six months ago, according to the latest Land Registry data. However, there is considerable variation with house price growth ranging from 14.5% in Bracknell to 17.1% in Hillingdon over the last 12 months.

Whilst Hersham hasn’t seen the 20%+ per year in house price growth of London over the last couple of years,  Hersham has seen  a sharp uplift in the number of properties sold throughout  2014 as base line demand for housing grows, which suggests there is substance to the recent pick-up in house price growth in the town. Since the Second World War in the UK, when the number of properties sold had grown, property values grew soon after. The 4.81% uplift in property transactions in Hersham in 2014, compared to 2013, indicates the most significant recovery in house market activity in Hersham (outside London) since 2007.

When you compare Hersham with London, you could be looking at two different countries. In London, its mid/late teens house price to earnings ratios are impacting demand (i.e. the average property value is often 15 or 17 times the average wage in London... in fact in Knightsbridge the ratio can be 30 to 1). However, the number of people wanting to sell has dropped considerably, meaning that falling sales volumes combined with a general slowdown in activity in the run up to the General Election are resulting in lower mortgage approvals for home purchase.

Transactions are a great indicator for house prices. The acceleration in house price growth in London in the last two years was preceded by three years of rising transactions. A similar pattern is being registered in the Hersham area, as pent up demand returns to the market supported by low mortgage rates and an improving economic outlook.

But before you get the Champagne out, while the uplift in activity is welcome news, the number of Hersham property sales in 2014 is still 22.3% lower than the level seen in 2007 and property values are 4.7% above the 2007 levels. The ongoing housing recovery is far from broad based and remains focused on middle to higher value areas within Hersham where households have equity and find it easier to access mortgage finance. If you want to know more about the Hersham Property Market, please visit the KT12 Property Blog www.waltonproperty.blogspot.co.uk or send me an email to marcel@rochills.co.uk.

The Heart- Town Centre Luxury!

This fab apartment in The Heart development has just come on with James Neave for £279,950.

Offering luxury town centre living these apartments easily rent for £1,050 per calender month so don't miss out!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34200465.html

Wilton Gardens- Perfect For Commuters

This great two double bedroom house has just come on the market with our friends at Curchods for £339,950.

Just a stroll from Walton Station and with a garage this would easily let for £1,250 per calender month.

Don't be disappointed get yourself booked in now!

 https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1382993/

Burwood Road- A Rare Studio

I have just taken on this great studio apartment with private garden for sale for just £179,950.

With a luxury kitchen, bathroom and private garden this would easily let for £900 per calender month what a great return!

Call me now to get booked in for this one it's not to be missed!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34145292.html

Sidney Road- A Great Buy To Let

This fab two bed ground floor maisonette has just come on the market with Martin Flashman for just £279,950!

With a good sized private rear garden and being just minutes from the town centre you could easily fetch around £1,250 per calender month for this!

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1353589/