Rents continue to rise as more tenants throw in the towel on buying

Newly agreed rents are continuing to rise – but at a slower pace, it has been claimed.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of tenants have said raising a deposit to buy is unaffordable.

When London is excluded, the average new rent is £749, up 3.5% on last year’s £724 per calendar month.

While this is running ahead of inflation, it is much lower than the 8.5% rise reported earlier this year.

Average new rents in London are 7.5% higher than a year ago, at £1,560 per month.

It means London rents are now over £800 more per month – or 108% higher – than the average in the rest of the UK.

Tenancy referencing service HomeLet also reports in a survey of almost 15,000 tenants, that 64% expect to continue rented for the foreseeable future.

Martin Totty, CEO of HomeLet’s parent company Barbon, said: “Our survey showed that many tenants ultimately aspire to own their own home, but that just over half of them aren’t actively saving for a deposit: 66% of those questioned said that a deposit wasn’t affordable for them.

“However, the positive news is that almost nine out of ten tenants told us they were happy with the standard of their current rented property, and the majority told us they were happy with the service provided by their landlord or letting agent.”

For the second month running, HomeLet reports that rents are rising fastest in Scotland, where new tenancies over the three months to October cost 9% more than in the same period last year.

Rents for new tenancies rose in nine out of 12 regions of the country. The exceptions were the north-west, East Anglia and Northern Ireland.

(The above article was taken from here: www.propertyindustryeye.com)

1 Bedroom House In Ampthill - 5.03% Gross Yield

This is a nice example of tidy little 1 bedroom cluster home, and would easily let for £600-£650 per month:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55824365.html

If you could pick this up for £155,000 then its a steady 5.03% gross yield, not bad for Ampthill!

How Many New Build Properties Are Coming Up Around Ampthill & Flitwick?

Seeing as our office is in The Rufus Centre on Steppingley Road, Flitwick we see houses being built all around us every day now. The site called Froghall Fields and Steppingley Gardens is well under way, with the showhomes done and glitzy sales brochures available, you can see all the estate plans if you want to have a nose.

Then we thought about the site in Ampthill called St Andrews Place, have you seen it? It looks massive! I didn't think it was possible to squeeze such an impressive looking site in that manky old plot, but it looks really good.

Then we noticed a building site down Water Lane in Flitwick as we manage a house there. We're not sure who the developer is as it's very early days, but apparently whoever it also 

What's Worse - £50pm Less Or One Month Void..?

This time of year can be trick for renting a place out, it always starts to die down as people get ready for Christmas and New Year. So if you have a property just about to come on the market then it's worth doing your sums to make sure you don't lose out.

For instance, lets say there's two very similar properties on the market, one for £750pm and one for £700pm. Which one do you think a tenant would go for, and how much would the landlord get...?

Of course the tenant would take the cheaper one for £700pm, and the chances are at this time of year the £750pm one might sit empty for a month - or even two!

1 Bedder In Millwright Way - 4.6% Gross Yield But Potential For More

There's a one bedroom cluster home on Millwright Way up for £150,000, which would rent for £550 - £575 per month in it's current condition, but it's looking pretty shabby at the moment. I mean, the bathroom looks enticing doesn't it:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55613267.html

Does Your Rental Property Need A Refurb? I Can Help

Over the last 12 years I've refurbished a lot of properties while being a landlord, and for the inexperienced it can be a daunting experience, especially if you're using individual tradesmen rather than one company to do the whole job. 

I was recently asked to manage a refurbishment for a landlord we already do business with, and I was more than happy to help. Here's some before and after photos:

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.