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Friday 24 February 2017

With 16,435 people in Private Rented Properties in Maidstone - Should you still be investing in Maidstone Buy To Let?


If I were a buy to let landlord in Maidstone today, I might feel a little bruised by the assault made on my wallet after being (and continuing to be) ransacked over the last 12 months by HM Treasury’s tax changes on buy to let. To add insult to injury, Brexit has caused a tempering of the Maidstone property market with property prices not increasing by the levels we have seen in the last few years. I think we might even see a very slight drop in property prices this year and, if Maidstone property prices do drop, the downside to that is that first time buyers could be attracted back into the Maidstone property market; meaning less demand for renting (meaning rents will go down). Yet, before we all run for the hills, all these things could be serendipitous to every Maidstone landlord, almost a blessing in disguise.

Maidstone has a population of 105,550, so when I looked at the number of people who lived in private rented accommodation, the numbers astounded me …

Maidstone - Accommodation Type and the Number of Occupiers
Owned outright - Maidstone
Owned with a mortgage - Maidstone
Shared ownership (part owned and part rented) - Maidstone
Social rented (aka Council Housing) -  Maidstone
Private rented - Maidstone
Living rent free - Maidstone
25,792
46,286
1,153
15,100
16,435
784
24.4%
43.9%
1.1%
14.3%
15.6%
0.7%

Yields will rise if Maidstone property prices fall, which will also make it easier to obtain a buy to let mortgage, as the income would cover more of the interest cost. If property values were to level off or come down that could help Maidstone landlords add to their portfolio. Rental demand in Maidstone is expected to stay solid and may even see an improvement if uncertainty is protracted. However, there is something even more important that Maidstone landlords should be aware of: the change in the anthropological nature of these 20 something potential first time buyers.

I have just come back from a visit to my wife’s relations after a family get together. I got chatting with my wife’s nephew and his partner.  Both are in their mid/late twenties, both have decent jobs in Maidstone and they rent. Yet, here was the bombshell, they were planning to rent for the foreseeable future with no plans to even save for a deposit, let alone buy a property. I enquired why they weren’t planning to buy? The answers surprised me as a 40 something, and it will you. Firstly, they don’t want to put cash into property, they would rather spend it on living and socialising by going on nice holidays and buying the latest tech and gadgets. They want the flexibility to live where they choose and finally, they don’t like the idea of paying for repairs. All their friends feel the same. I was quite taken aback that buying a house is just not top of the list for these youngsters.


So, as 15.6% of Maidstone people are in rented accommodation and as that figure is set to grow over the next decade, now might just be a good time to buy property in Maidstone – because what else are you going to invest in?  Give your money to the stock market run by sharp suited city whizz kids – because at least with property – it’s something you can touch - there is nothing like bricks and mortar!If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

Email me on claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk or call on 01622 671878. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.

LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent
Blog, http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK
Twitter, https://twitter.com/seekershomes
Website, http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/

Friday 17 February 2017

383 Maidstone Households Occupied by OAP Renters


Recent statistics published by the Office of National Statistics show that there are 267,704 private rented households in the Country that are occupied by people aged 65 and older, meaning 4.39% of OAP’s are living in private rented property.

It got me thinking two things. How many of these OAP’s have always rented and how many have sold up and become a tenant?  In retirement, selling up could make financial sense to the mature generation in Maidstone, potentially allowing them to liquidate the equity of their main home to enhance their retirement income.  I wanted to know why these older people rent and whether there was opportunity for the buy to let landlords of Maidstone?

The Prudential published a survey recently that said nearly six out of ten OAP renters had never owned a home.  Two out of ten OAP renters were required to sell up because of debt, just about one in ten OAP renters sold their property to use the money to fund their retirement and the remaining one out ten OAP renters, rented for other reasons.

Funding retirement is important as the life expectancy of someone from Maidstone at age 65 (years) is 18.9 years for males and 20.9 years for females (interesting when compared to the National Average of 18.7 years for males and 21.1 years for females).  The burdens of financing a long retirement are being felt by many mature people of Maidstone.  The state of play is not helped by rising living costs and ultra-low interest rates reducing returns for savers.

So, what of Maidstone?  Of the 11,083 households in Maidstone, whose head of the household is 65 or over, not surprisingly 8,923 of households were owned (80.51%) and 1,548 (13.97%) were in social housing.  However, the figure that fascinated me was the 383 (3.46%) households that were in privately rented properties.


Anecdotal evidence, by talking to both my team and other Maidstone property professionals is that this figure is rising.  More and more Maidstone OAP’s are selling their large Maidstone homes and renting something more manageable, allowing them to release all of their equity from their old home.  This equity can be gifted to grandchildren (allowing them to get on the property ladder), invested in plans that produce a decent income and while living the life they want to live.

These Maidstone OAP renters know they have a fixed monthly expenditure and can budget accordingly with the peace of mind that their property maintenance and the upkeep of the buildings are included in the rent.  Many landlords will also include gardening in the rent! Renting is also more adaptable to the trials of being an OAP - the capability to move at short notice can be convenient for those moving into nursing homes, and it doesn't leave family members panicking to sell the property to fund care-home fees.


Maidstone landlords should seriously consider low maintenance semi-detached bungalows on decent bus routes and close to doctor’s surgeries as a potential investment strategy to broaden their portfolio.  Get it right and you will have a wonderful tenant, who if the property offers everything a mature tenant wants and needs, will pay top dollar in rent!

If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

Email me on claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk or call on 01622 671878. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.

LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent
Blog, http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK
Twitter, https://twitter.com/seekershomes
Website, http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/

Friday 3 February 2017

Maidstone Unemployment Drops to 3.8% and its effect on the Maidstone Property Market


It was late May 2016, The Right Hon. Member for Tatton, Mr George Osborne, published an official HM Treasury analysis stating UK house prices would be lower by at least 10% (and up to 18%) by the middle of 2018 compared with what is expected if the UK remained in the European Union. So, eight months on from the Referendum, are we beginning to show signs of that prophecy? The simple answer is yes and no.

Good barometers of the housing market are the share prices of the big UK builders. Much was made of Barratt’s share price dropping by 42.5% in the two weeks after Brexit, along with Taylor Wimpey’s equally eye watering drop in the same two weeks by 37.9%. Looking at the most recent set of data from the Land Registry, property values in Maidstone are only 0.04% up month on month (and the month before that, they had only seen an increase of 0.01%) – so is this the time to panic and run for the hills?

Doom and Gloom then? Well, let me consider the other side of the coin.

Well, as I have spoken about many times in my blog, it is dangerous to look at short term. I have mentioned in several recent articles, the heady days of the Maidstone property prices rising quicker than a thermometer in the desert sun between the years 2011 and late 2016 are long gone – and good riddance. Yet it might surprise you during those impressive years of house price growth, the growth wasn’t smooth and all upward. Maidstone property values dropped by an eye watering 2.2% in April 2013 and 0.25% in March 2015 – and no one batted an eyelid then.

You see, property values in Maidstone are still 8.96% higher than a year ago, meaning the average value of a Maidstone property today is £328,000. Even the shares of those new home builders Barratt have increased by 43.3% since early July and Taylor Wimpey’s have increased by 37.3%. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government Spending Watchdog, recently revised down its forecast for house-price growth in the coming years - but only slightly.

The Maidstone housing market has been steadfast partly because, so far at least, the wider economy has performed better than expected since Brexit. There is a robust link between the unemployment rate and property prices, and a flimsier one with wage growth. Unemployment in the Maidstone Borough Council area stands at 3,400 people (3.8%), which is considerably better than a few years ago in 2013 when there were 5,700 people unemployed (6.9%) in the same council area.

However, inflation is the only thing that does worry me. Looking at all the pundits, it will get to at least 3% (if not more) in the latter part of 2017 as the drop in Sterling in late 2016 renders our imports with higher prices. If that transpires then the Bank of England, whose target for inflation is 2%, may raise interest rates from 0.25% to 2%+. However, that won’t be so much of an issue as 81.6% of new mortgages in the UK in the last two years have been fixed-rate and who amongst us can remember 1992 with Interest rates of 15%!


Forget Brexit and yes inflation will be a thorn in the side – but the greatest risk to the Maidstone (and British) property market is that there are simply not enough properties being built thus keeping house prices artificially high. Good news for those on the property ladder, but not for those first-time buyers that aren’t! In the coming weeks in my articles on the Maidstone Property Market, I will discuss this matter further!

If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

Email me on claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk or call on 01622 671878. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.

LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent
Blog, http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK
Twitter, https://twitter.com/seekershomes
Website, http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/