UK population set to rocket by 10million in just 25 years

So says a story from The Daily Mail here - Rocket Pop

"The increase will be the most dramatic over the next ten years when the ONS predicts that Britain will have to find room for an extra 4.4million people."

"UK will be home to 74.3m people by 2039 - equivalent of adding Sweden"

This article makes positive reading if you're a landlord, but of course it could all be utter 
nonsense. The Mail needs to sell newspapers after all.

There are facts like people living longer and migration to take into consideration when investing in property though, it has always gone up in value over the long term. 

Three Bed Semi For £200k In Shefford, Needs Work!

Came across this lovely looking three bed semi-detached house in Shefford recently, but someone's already put in an offer for £208,000. Have a look for yourself here: Shefford Do-er Upper 

On first glance there could be money to made here, as everything looks alright with the 

Average Sale And Rental Prices For MK45 Area - September 2015

Rightmove have released the average sale and rental prices for September 2015, see table below copied from their website:

	Average House Prices (£) in MK45	Bedrooms	Price
		1	150,000
		2	266,695
		3	377,780
		4	486,293
Find sold house prices in other areas		5	551,493
	Average House Rents (£) in MK45	Bedrooms	Price
		1	623
		2	797
		3	1,121
		4	1,509
Compare rental & sold prices in other areas		5	2,633
	Average Flat Prices (£) in MK45	Bedrooms	Price
		1	134,184
		2	174,844
		3	0
Find sold flat prices in other areas
	Average Flat Rents (£) in MK45	Bedrooms	Price
		1	579
		2	771
		3	800
Compare rental & sold prices in other areas
Lettings Supply for MK45 Resale 47 new properties added 126 new properties added 12 flats and 35 houses 6 flats and 120 houses
Compare market trends in other areas Request a valuation to sell your property

Of course these figures can vary quite widely. For instance a tiny 2 bedroom mid terrace 

Fancy a 1 Bed Flat For £70k - 6.77% Gross Yield!

Seeing as there's not much around to buy in Flitwick & Ampthill at the moment, I've been looking a bit further away in Bedford and found this little corker:

Terrible Estate Agent Photos

Check out the latest photos from http://terriblerealestateagentphotos.com they have some brilliant one's, like this beauty:

Clean lines, excellent use of light, bathtub full of vegetables. Textbook.

Sometimes us agents do need a helping hand from the occupiers or owners, we're there to take the photos and market the property in the best way possible, not empty bathtubs full of vegetables! Haha.

Other times us agents are just idiots though:

1 Bedroom House, Marston Moretaine - 6% Gross Yield!

Here's a nice example of a 1 bedroom cluster home in Marston Moretaine, which in my opinion is a great place to invest. There's always good demand for rental properties there, and it has excellent road links to Milton Keynes, Bedford and the M1.

Good Looking Girl Wanted To "Get The Students In"

An advert on Twitter for a “good looking girl” to work in the front office of a property agent provoked a storm.

The advert was placed by Modelling Network in Cardiff.

A longer version of the advert appeared on Facebook, saying: “Looking for a good looking girl to work in the front office of a property agents in Cathays, Cardiff to get the students in.”

It was seen by no less than former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, who helpfully tweeted: “This is unlawful under Equality Act.”

Copying in Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens, she demanded to know if the Equality and Human Rights Commission was going to do anything about it.

EHRC tweeted to say that it would investigate, and thanked Harman for bringing it to its attention.

Others joined in, with one tweet saying that not only was the advert unlawful but blatantly sexist, but some took the opportunity to hurl abuse at Harman.

Both the Tweet and Facebook posts have been deleted.

This story was taken from HERE

Beds & Bucks Auction Results from 15/10/15

Here's the auction results for the sale on 15/10/15 which i went along to, and took the guys in the office for an afternoon out seeing as we were quiet that day. There were quite a few unsold and withdrawn lots, only 9 out of the original 20 sold on the day! This could mean some bargains are to be had:

Lot No.	Address
1	Flat 3, 23 Alexandra Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 1JA
2	Trailflatt Farm, Lee Road, Quainton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP22 4BH
3	14A High Street, Souldrop, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK44 1EY
4	126 Bromham Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 2QN
5	Land at Water Stratford, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, MK18 5DU
6	Thomas Wright House, High Street South, Olney, Buckinghamshire, MK46 4AA
7	15 Kempston Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 9DX
8	6 Bedford Road, Moggerhanger, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK44 3RR
9	Land adj The Croft, Alexandra Road, Rushden, Northamptonshire, NN10 0HY
10	The Paddington, 157 Midland Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 1DW
11	Land at Tingrith Road, Westoning, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK45 5AH
12	Land at Tingrith Road, Westoning, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK45 5AH
13	1 Coronation Avenue, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 1UA
14	12 Stockwood Court, Stockwood Crescent, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 3ST
15	30-32 Iddesleigh Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 4LW
16	Chester Works, Chester Avenue, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU4 9SF
17	Land at Kimbolton Road, Pertenhall, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK44 2BE
18	Lynfield, The Drove, Barroway Drove, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 0AJ
19	10 Ashburnham Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 1DS
20	The Walled Garden, Church End, Willington, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK44 3PX

I was interested in a couple of lots, one was withdrawn prior and the other sold for £238k meaning a great yield of 9.08% (Lot 19), a block of 4 flats currently rented at £21,480 per 

NEWS FLASH: Right to Rent being extended across England from February 1st 2016

The Home Office has announced that from February 1, 2016, the Right to Rent scheme will be extended across England. This means all private landlords, or their agents, in England, including those subletting or taking in lodgers, will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property.

The scheme is being extended following an evaluation of the first phase in the West Midlands and has received the continued input of a panel of industry experts, housing and homeless charities and local authorities.

Would You Pay £235,995 For A Two Bedroom Coach House In Flitwick?

Right next door to our office in The Rufus Centre is where a massive new development is taking shape called Steppingley Gardens and Froghall Fields, and the developers have started giving out the plans for the type of properties available, including this one:

It's a computer generated photo as the real ones aren't built yet, but some are well

If It Works For Alan Sugar...

Lord Sugar tells his Apprentice to invest in property if he wants to be wealthy in business

Mark Wright, winner of last year's Apprentice, says Alan Sugar advises entrepreneurs to put their money in property

Pub For Sale In Silsoe -

Fancy buying a pub in Silsoe? 

The George is up for sale at the moment, but no price advertised. What do you think? It would make an obvious block of flats with the layout and parking at the rear, may have a TPO on the tree in the garden though!

1 Bed Flat in Ampthill with a 5.77% Gross Yield!

This is a tidy looking 1 bedroom flat in Ampthill, generating a 5.77% gross yield which is pretty good for these parts!

On closer inspection its got 98 years left on the lease (so mortgage lending will be fine), off road parking (always a bonus in Ampthill), and it's been decorated plus new carpets. No chain either, so would be an easy quick purchase.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51681988.html

CP reckon they can get £650 per month on the rental market, but of course our fee's to landlords are a lot more competitive, haha! See here - http://www.1st-house-lettings.co.uk 

Whoever buys it will end up with a nice little pad anyway, is that going to be you..?

Where Do I Invest...?

A lovely lady came into the office this week to ask where to buy a rental property, and i’m always a bit flummoxed by this question. There are so many different variables that come into play with investing in property, what’s right for one person is another persons nightmare, there’s also that person’s budget, what they’re looking to achieve (cashflow, capital growth, pension, security, etc), if they’re buying cash or getting a mortgage, etc, etc.

The short answer is that she needs to work out what her price range is, and this will help to decide which area(s) to look at. Once she has some idea of an area worked out, then we can look at properties for sale in that specific area and I can help spot any potential pitfalls, and help with an expected rental valuation. 

Let's look at two examples:

Fancy owning 1.25 acres next to a church in Willington?

This seems like an awful lot of land for a low guide price of £25,000, and it's in the middle of a village. Not sure whether planning is viable for anything here at all, but 1.25 acres of walled ground does seem like it's worth a punt, especially with planning laws being reformed all the time at the moment!

We Have A 1 Bedroom Flat For Sale - Landlord Wants To Sell, Tenant Wants To Stay! Ready Made Investment

We've got a landlord with a 1 bedroom flat who's looking to sell, and the tenant wants to stay and carry on renting. Are you looking to invest in Flitwick at the moment?

The landlord would accept £125k, and the flat currently rents for £500 per month but there's scope for the rent to rise to £550+ per monthI in line with current rates.

If this might be of interest to you, please give me a call on 01525 838848.

Which One Bed House Would You Buy....?

Both are very similar type and size, with the top one looking slightly more modern. Both have off road parking, gas central heating, a small private garden, double glazing, and are located near enough the exact same distance from the town centre, ideal for anyone looking to rent in the area!

So there's this one bed house up for £155,000 versus....

....this one bed house up for £146,000. Which one would you invest in?

Fancy Buying A Police Station?

Ampthill Police Station - For Sale!

http://www.movehut.co.uk/property/468687-ampthill-police-station-woburn-road-bedford-bedfordshire/?k=1

See link above for details on the sale of Ampthill Police Station and the land it sits on, wonder how much this will sell for:

Another Site In Ampthill Up For Sale...

Gas House Lane, Ampthill, Bedfordshire MK45 2ER

This has been boarded up for years, and now there's a big development happening right next door so this would easily get planning permission for something. Couple of things to watch out for are rights of way over the site, and the purchase is subject to VAT.

Largest number of private renters for 30 years

Largest number of private renters for 30 years

More people are renting their homes from private landlords than at any time in the past 30 years, according to a new report.

The report, put together by independent think tank ResPublica and trade body Co-operatives UK, shows that 30 years ago 61% of people in the UK owned their home.

That number gradually increased throughout the 1990s, but dropped off from the year 2000 as renting became more popular. The homeownership figure now stands, once again, at 61%.

3 Bed Semi In Maulden for £135,000

3 Bed Semi in Maulden for £135,000

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33215838.html

I posted about this property in January this year (http://ampthillandflitwickproperty.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/3-bed-semi-in-maulden-for-120000.html) as it was up for sale at £120k then. Its a 3 bed semi which is up for sale now at a guide price of £135k, and looking at the photo's absolutely no work has been done to it! Haha.

I wish the seller luck with this one, as they could be making a very easy £15k (less buying and selling costs) over 10 months, just for taking a risk - good stuff.

It's Here.....Hope You're Prepared!

The Deregulation Bill comes into effect today, and if you're a Landlord then this affects YOU!

See this update from the National Landlords Association to help see what the changes are:
https://nlauk.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/1-october-a-day-of-change-for-landlords/