tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75203250442699419822024-02-08T05:27:37.236+00:00The Maidstone Property BlogThis blog follows the buy-to-let market in Maidstone. You'll find tips, guidance, and analysis that relates specifically to Maidstone and you'll also find properties from all the estate agents in the town on here that may make decent investments. I own and operate Seekers Homes, a Maidstone Estate Agent, and if you're thinking of buying a property to let in Maidstone, I'm happy to offer a second opinion.Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-69936821992303054662018-02-06T11:40:00.002+00:002018-02-06T11:40:51.201+00:00With Maidstone Annual Property Values 5.9% Higher, This is My 2018 Forecast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking at the newspapers between Christmas and New Year, it seemed that this year’s sport in the column inches was to predict the future of the British housing market. So to go along with that these are my thoughts on the Maidstone property market.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the average 5-year fixed rate mortgage at 1.98% (down from 3.47% in 2014) and 2-year fixed rate at 1.47% (down from 2.37% in 2014), mortgage interest rates offered by lenders are at an all-time low (even with the slight increase on the Bank of England base rate a few months ago). Added to this, there has been a low unemployment rate of 4% in Maidstone, which has contributed to maintain a decent level demand for property in Maidstone in 2017 (interestingly – an impressive 2,204 Maidstone properties were sold in last 12 months), whilst finally, the number of properties for sale in the town has remained limited, thus providing support for Maidstone house prices, meaning …</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jspjnVv-XORp3CXPryJ9Hw3hzY3W7FekFB7bLuCWYVdUHfCU39AFc7Ft3VeVI-judfhT7hzJF9CCUh7h0ehlwZ2TZIK3hpyS88LZmcfFfWdcdhD9KHyAE5cXQ4gDcIKyUF-KcpOnwAfg/s1600/Higher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maidstone Property Values are 5.9% higher than a year ago</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, moving into 2018, there will be greater pressures on people’s incomes as inflation starts to eat into real wage packet growth, which will wield a snowballing strain on consumer confidence. Interestingly though, information from the website Rightmove suggested over a third of property it had on its books in October and November had their asking prices reduced, the highest percentage of asking price reductions in the same time frame, over five years. Still, a lot of that could have been house-sellers being overly optimistic with their initial pricing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In terms of what will happen to Maidstone property values in the next 12 months, a lot will be contingent on the type of Brexit we have and the impact on the whole of the UK economy. A lot of people will talk about the Central London property market in the coming year, and if the banking and finance sectors are negatively affected with a poor Brexit deal, then the London market is likely to see more of an impact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, the bottom line is Maidstone homeowners and Maidstone landlords should be aware of what happens in the rollercoaster housing market of Central London, but not panic if prices do drop suddenly there in 2018. Over the last 8 years, the Central London property market has been in a world of its own (Central London house prices have grown by 89.6% in those last 8 years, whilst in Maidstone, they have only risen by 48.1%). So we might see a heavy correction in the Capital, whilst more locally, something a little more subdued.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hindsight is always better than foresight and predicting anything economic is all well and good when you know what is around the corner. At least we have the Brexit divorce settlement sorted and, as the UK economy and the UK housing market are intertwined, it all depends on how we deal as a Country with the Brexit issue. However, we have been through the global financial crisis reasonably intact ... I am sure we can get through this together as well?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, and house prices in Maidstone over the next 12 months? I believe they will end up between 0.2% lower and 1.5% higher, although it will probably be a bumpy ride to get to those sorts of figures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you would like to read more articles on my thoughts on the Maidstone property Market – please visit the Maidstone Property Market Blog </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk</b></span></span></a></div>
<br />Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-40715296682841067842018-02-05T11:27:00.001+00:002018-02-05T11:27:58.092+00:00 On line Estate Agents have been accused of publishing incorrect property sales figures.<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Stockbrokers -Jeffries said Purple Bricks sales are just over 51 % of instructions. Purple Bricks state their figures are 78% .</div>
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Jeffries called selling with purple Bricks is a" £1000 coin toss”. This is because they charge up front and not on results like traditional high street agents. You pay whether you have sold or not !</div>
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Seekers sales are 90 % of instructions and you pay on results !</div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-48032914767080377032018-01-03T13:06:00.000+00:002018-01-03T13:06:01.229+00:00Maidstone Apartments are 8.5% more affordable than 10 years ago <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My research shows that certain types of Maidstone
property are more affordable today than before the 2007 credit crunch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Roll the clock back to 2007 just before the credit crunch
hit which saw Maidstone property values plummet like a lead balloon and the Maidstone
property market had reached a peak with the prices for Maidstone property
hitting the highest level they had ever reached. Between 2008 and 2010, Maidstone property
values lay in the doldrums and only started to rise in 2011, albeit quite
slowly to begin with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nevertheless, even though property values have now passed
those 2007 peaks, my research indicates that Maidstone property, especially
flats/apartments, are now more affordable than they were before the 2008 credit
crunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Back in 2007, the average value of a Maidstone
flat/apartment stood at £164,258 and today, it stands at £193,036, a rise of £28,778
or 17.5%.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">However, between 2007 and today, we have experienced
inflation (as measured by the Government’s Consumer Price Index) of 25.97%
meaning that in real spending power terms Maidstone apartments are 8.5% more
affordable than in 2007. Looking at it another way, if the average Maidstone
apartment (valued at £164,258 in 2007) had risen by 25.97% inflation over those
10 years, today it would be worth £206,916 (instead of the current £193,036).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The point I’m
trying to get across is that Maidstone property is more affordable than many
people think. Maidstone first time
buyers can get on the ladder as 95% mortgages have been readily available to
first-time buyers since 2010. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It really
comes down to a choice and if Maidstone first-time buyers can get over the
hurdle of saving the 5% deposit for the mortgage on the property – they will be
on to a winner, especially with these ultralow mortgage interest rates, a
mortgage can be between 10% and 30% cheaper per month than the rental payments
on the same house.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt;">So why aren’t Maidstone 20 somethings buying their own
home?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, renting was considered the
poor man’s choice in Maidstone (and the rest of the Country) a huge stigma was
attached to renting. However, over the last 10 years as a country, we have done
a complete U-turn in our attitude towards renting - meaning that many people
find renting a better option and a lifestyle choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Saving the 5% deposit means going without many luxuries
in life (such as holidays, every satellite movie and sports channel,
socialising or the latest mobile phone – even if only in the short term)
therefore instead of saving every last pound to put towards a mortgage deposit Maidstone
20 somethings choose to rent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">There is no denying the simple
fact that over the next 10 to 15 years, the people who choose to rent instead
of buy in Maidstone will continue to rise.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Therefore, everyone in Maidstone has a responsibility to
ensure that an adequate number of quality Maidstone rental properties are safeguarded
to meet those future demands. Interestingly, what I have noticed though over
the last few years are the expectations of Maidstone tenants on the finish and
specification of their Maidstone rental property. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have perceived that in the past, what a tenant wanted
from their Maidstone rental property was moderately unassuming because renting
a property was only a short-term choice to fill the gap before jumping on the
property ladder. Before the millennium, wood chip wall paper and
twenty-year-old kitchen and bathroom suites were considered the norm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">However, Maidstone tenants’ expectations are becoming
more discerning as each year goes by. I
have also noticed the length of time a tenant remains in their Maidstone
property is becoming longer (and this was backed up recently by stats from a
Government Report), although I have noticed a tendency for many Maidstone
landlords not to keep the rental payments at the going market rates - maybe a topic for a future article for my
blog?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The bottom line is this … Maidstone landlords will need
to be more conscious of tenants needs and wants and consider their financial
planning for future enhancements to their Maidstone rental properties over the
next five, ten and twenty years -<i> e.g. decorating, kitchen and bathroom suites
etc etc</i> ..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The present-day and future situation of the Maidstone private
rental property market is important, and I frequently liaise with Maidstone
buy-to-let investors looking to spread their Maidstone rental-portfolios. I
also enjoy meeting and working alongside Maidstone first time landlords, to
ensure they can navigate through the minefield of rental voids, the important
balance of capital growth and yield and ensuring the property is returned back
to you in the future in the best possible condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-55692689271329660762017-12-13T12:42:00.004+00:002017-12-13T12:42:28.085+00:00Maidstone Property Market and Hammond’s Budget Promise to Build 300,000 more homes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I miss the good old days of George Osborne as
Chancellor, with his hardhat and hi-vis jacket. He must have visited every new
home building site in the UK with his trademark attire! For the last few years,
the nearest Philip Hammond got to donning a ‘Bob the Builder’ outfit was at his
grandchild’s birthday party. However, with what appears to be a change in focus
by the Tories to ensure they get back in power in 2022, they appear to have
fallen in love with house building again with the Chancellor’s promise to create
300,000 new households in a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Nationally, the number of new homes created has
topped 217,344 in the last year, the highest since the financial crash of
2007/8. Looking closer to home: in total there were 1,145 ‘net additional
dwellings’ in the last 12 months in the Maidstone Borough Council area, a decent
increase of 79% on the 2010 figure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The figures show that 89% of this additional
housing was down to new build properties. In total, there were 1,019 new
dwellings built over the last year in Maidstone. In addition, there were 265 additional
dwellings created from converting commercial or office buildings into
residential property and a further 11 dwellings were added as a result of
converting houses into flats. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">While these all added to the total housing stock in the Maidstone
area, there were 150 demolitions to take into account.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Net additional dwellings in Maidstone
in the last 12 months<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New build<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conversions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Change of use<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Demolitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Net Additions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1,019<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">265<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">-150<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1,145<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I was encouraged to see some of the new
households in the Maidstone area had come from a change of use. The planning
laws were changed a few years back so that, in certain circumstances, owners of
properties didn’t need planning permission to change office space in to
residential use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">With the scarcity of building land available locally
(or the builders being very slow to build on what they have, for fear of
flooding the market), it was pleasing to see the number of developers that had
reutilised vacant office space into residential homes in the local council
area. Converting offices and shops to residential use will be vital in helping to
solve the Maidstone housing crisis especially, as you can see on the graph,
that the level of building has hardly been spectacular over the last seven
years!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Now we have had the autumn budget, Theresa May
and Philip Hammond have set out their stall with housing as their key focus. I
was glad to see the Government introducing a variety of changes to improve
housing, including more funding for the supply side and an injection of urgency
into the planning system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The biggest question is, just where are the
Government going to build all these new houses? Maybe a topic for a future
article?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Back to the main point though and the focus on
the housing market by the Tory’s is good news for all homeowners and buy to let
landlords, as it will encourage more fluidity in the market in the longer term,
sharing the wealth and benefits of homeownership for all. However, in the short
term, demand still outstrips supply for homes and that will mean continued
upward pressures on rents for tenants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-37955204558336247602017-11-22T11:49:00.000+00:002017-11-22T11:49:32.456+00:00The Maidstone House Price Index - 159.94<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; text-align: center;">I had the most interesting conversation the other day with a local Maidstone accountant, who asked me about my articles on the Maidstone property market. It was quite humbling to be given praise by such a professional, when he commented enthusiastically on the articles I write. He was particularly interested with the graphs, facts and figures contained within them – so much so he recommended his clients read them, as most of them were either Maidstone homeowners, Maidstone landlords and a lot of the time - both. However, one question that kept me on my toes was, “</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">With so many House-Price-Indices, how do you know which one to use and how can you calculate what is exactly happening in Maidstone?</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; text-align: center;">”</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">To start with, there are indeed a great number of these Indices, including the Land Registry, Office of National Stats, Halifax, Nationwide and LSL to name but a few. </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: red; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">The issue occurs when these different house price indices give diverse pictures of the state of the UK housing market. Whilst some indices measure the average value of every property in the UK (sold or unsold), others measure the average ‘price-paid’ of houses that happen to be sold over a fixed time scale… confusing isn’t it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">A lot of the variance between house price indices occurs because of the distinctive ways in which the numerous indices endeavour to beat these issues. You see, the biggest problem in creating a house-price-index when comparing and contrasting with most other indexes (</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">e.g. inflation where the price a ubiquitous tin of Beans can easily be measured over the months and years)</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">, is every home is unique and as Maidstone people are only moving every 14.5 years, it appears the only thing that can be measured is the price of property sold in a given month. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">By their very nature, all of the indices are only able to paint a picture of the whole of the UK or, at best, the regional housing market. As I have said many times in my articles on the Maidstone property market, it is important to look to the medium term when considering house price inflation/deflation. Looking at the month-to-month jumps, many indices look like one of those jumpy lie-detector needles you see in the cold war movies! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">I can guarantee you in the coming few months, on a month-by-month basis, one or more of the indices will say property prices will have dropped. Let me tell you, no property market indices are representative of the housing market in the short term. Many indices have shown a drop around the Christmas and New Year months, even the boom years of 2001 to 2007 and 2013 to 2015. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">So, back to the question, how do we work out what is happening in the Maidstone Property Market and can there be a Maidstone House Price Index? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">To calculate what I consider is a fair and proper House Price Index for Maidstone, I initially needed to decide on a starting place for the index. I have chosen 2008 as far enough away, but still gives us a medium/long term view. Next, I split all the house sales into their types (Detached/Semi/House /Apartment) to give us an indication of what is actually selling by postcode district. So, for example, below is a table for the ME15 postcode district (the sample shows 2008, 2016 and 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">Then I look at the actual numbers of properties sold in the ME15 postcode district. Below is the graph with the numbers for the years already mentioned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">Next, I have looked at the prices paid for those types for every year since 2008, again in this example using the sample years of 2008, 2016 and 2017 for the ME15 postcode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;">I hope you found that of interest and over the coming months and seasons, I shall refer back to Maidstone House Price Index in my Maidstone Property Blog </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">www.maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none;"> to give you a flavour of what is really happening in the Maidstone Property Market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #902C92; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #902C92; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">The Maidstone Property News is a fortnightly publication. To ensure your receive your copy please register </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline;">www.maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; text-decoration-line: underline;"> </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #902C92; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-11633001651228165822017-11-06T12:32:00.002+00:002017-11-06T12:33:14.038+00:00Maidstone Property Market - But to Let<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNngNjKr17NWcrJZm0isojuCl2zHF1JeqrqCNWW9XMZgpO5lztbSlMhwjbY5W7laEzOOQp-ibMIQ1e0snMddlbAtelQ_8q_yNrnqwD0x96GFfFG8BRNBNX-1_yHLSO13s9dVGk86b9__d/s1600/buy-to-let-investment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="500" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNngNjKr17NWcrJZm0isojuCl2zHF1JeqrqCNWW9XMZgpO5lztbSlMhwjbY5W7laEzOOQp-ibMIQ1e0snMddlbAtelQ_8q_yNrnqwD0x96GFfFG8BRNBNX-1_yHLSO13s9dVGk86b9__d/s320/buy-to-let-investment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I see many new and experienced Buy- to -Let Landlords .They
come from all walks of life. Some have just one property others many more. One
of our landlords has 24 but he started with just one ! </div>
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Our landlords often
think of themselves as simply typical landlords but there are so many different
types. There are portfolio landlords with a great wealth of experience, we have
new landlords who have had some cash to invest. There are’ accidental landlords
‘ who have inherited a property or have moved elsewhere, couldn’t sell and now
decided to keep their property as part of their pension scheme. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have worked in the lettings business for many years and it
is important for me to understand the individual needs of each type of landlord
as it can change how they want to let their property-the approach to
maintenance and the type of tenant required.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As an Independent Family Firm we can tailor what we do to
achieve that perfect relationship and get the most from your investment. Many
of our clients have been with us for many years .<o:p></o:p></div>
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We produce a fortnightly blog on the Maidstone Property
Market – please subscribe by visiting <o:p></o:p><b><span style="color: #645a9f; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: #645a9f;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk/ </span></a></span></b></div>
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Thinking of Selling please visit our web site
ww.seekershomes.co.uk and download our selling guide <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now some important Information
: </div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">MONDAY NOVEMBER 20 TH<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">BUY-TO-LET
SEMINAR<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">SPEAKER : CHRIS WATKINS PROPERTY JOURNALIST<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">THE
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE MAIDSTONE PROPERTY MARKET<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">5.30 pm for 6pm VILLAGE HOTEL MAIDSTONE ( JUNCT 6 M20)</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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See you there !<o:p></o:p></div>
Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-12704447898572421882017-10-27T13:35:00.002+01:002017-10-27T13:35:53.263+01:00Maidstone Home Owners Are Only Moving Every 14.5 Years <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mentioned in a previous article, the average house price in Maidstone is 9.68 times the average annual Maidstone salary. This is higher than the last peak of 2008, when the ratio was 8.47. A number of City commentators anticipated that in the ambiguity that trailed the Brexit vote, UK (and hence Maidstone) property prices might drop like a stone. The point is - they haven’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now it’s true the market for Maidstone’s swankiest and poshest properties looks a little fragile (although they are selling if they are realistically priced) and overall, Maidstone property price growth has slowed, but the lower to middle Maidstone property market appears to be quite strong.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scratch under the surface though, and a different long-term picture is emerging away from what is happening to property prices. Maidstone people are moving home less often than they once did. Data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the number of properties sold in 2016 is again much lower than it was in the Noughties. My statistics show…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though we are not anywhere
near the post credit crunch (2008 and 2009) low levels of property sales, the torpor
of the Maidstone housing market following the 2016 Brexit vote has seen the
number of property sales in Maidstone and the surrounding local authority area
level off to what appears to be the start of a new long term trend (compared
the Noughties).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, it was the 1980’s
that saw the highest levels of people moving home. Nationally, everyone was
moving on average every decade. Even though it was during the Labour administration
of the late 1970’s where the right to buy one’s council house started, it was
the Housing Act of 1980 that that really got council tenants moving, as Thatcher’s
Tory government financially encouraged council tenants to buy their council-rented
homes - for which countless then sold them on for a profit and moved elsewhere.
The housing market was awash with money as banks were allowed to offer
mortgages as well as the existing building societies, meaning it made it simpler
for Brits to borrow even more money on mortgages and to climb up the housing
ladder. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But coming back to today, looking
at the property sales figures in the Maidstone area since 2010/11, a new trend
of number of property sales appears to have started. Interestingly, this has
been mirrored nationally. The reasons behind this are complex, but a good place
to start is the growth rate of real UK household disposable income, which has
fallen from 5.01% a year in 2000 to 1.68% in 2016. Also, things have deteriorated
since the country voted to leave the EU as consumer price inflation has risen
to 2.7% per annum, meaning inflation has eaten away at the real value of wages
(as they have only grown by 1.1% in the same time frame). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With meagre real income growth,
it has become more difficult for homeowners to accumulate the savings needed to
climb up the housing ladder as the level of saving has also dropped from 4.26%
of household income to -1.11% (<i>i.e.
people are eating into their savings</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next week I will be discussing how
these (and other issues) has meant the level of Maidstone people moving home
has slumped to once every 14.5 years.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-85891199380015762732017-10-11T09:45:00.004+01:002017-10-11T09:45:49.006+01:00Maidstone House Prices Outstrip Wage Growth by 25.12% since 2007<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I recently
read a report by the Yorkshire Building Society that 54% of the country has
seen wages (salaries) rise faster than property prices in the last 10 years.
The report said that in the Midlands and North, </span><span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">salaries had outperformed property prices since 2007, whilst in other
parts of the UK, especially in the
South, the opposite has happened and property prices have outperformed salaries
quite noticeably.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As regular readers of my blog know, I
always like to find out what has actually happened locally in Maidstone. To
talk of North and South is not specific enough for me. Therefore, to start, I
looked at what has happened to salaries locally since 2007. Looking at the
Office of National Statistics (ONS) data for Maidstone Borough Council, some
interesting figures came out... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Maidstone</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">South East</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nationally</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2007</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,019 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,120 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £23,920 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2008</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,452 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,290 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £24,960 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2009</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,123 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,903 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £25,506 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2010</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £29,037 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,486 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,088 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2011</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,992 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,839 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,010 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2012</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,231 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,902 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,432 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2013</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,047 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,995 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,931 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2014</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £26,962 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £29,494 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,097 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2015</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £29,026 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £29,895 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £27,508 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.45pt;" width="94">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2016</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,179 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £30,264 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> £28,132 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Salaries in Maidstone have risen by 4.29%
since 2007 (although it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get there!) - interesting
when you compare that with what has happened to salaries regionally (an
increase of 15.87%) and nationally, an increase of 17.61%. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Next, I needed to find what had
happened to property prices locally over the same time frame of 2007 and today.
<b><i>Net</i></b>
property values in Maidstone are 29.41% higher than they were in late 2007 (not
forgetting they did dip in 2008 and 2009). Therefore...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #454545; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Property values in
the Maidstone area have increased at a higher rate than wages to the tune of 25.12%
...<i> meaning, Maidstone is in line with
the regional trend..</i></span></b><b><i><span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All this is important, as the
relationship between salaries and property values is the basis on how
affordable property is to first (and second, third <i>etc.</i>) time buyers. It is also vitally relevant for Maidstone
landlords as they need to be aware of this when making their buy-to-let plans
for the future. If more Maidstone people are buying, then demand for Maidstone rental
properties will drop (and vice versa). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As I have discussed in a few articles
in my blog recently, this issue of ‘property-affordability’ is a great
bellwether to the future direction of the Maidstone property market. Now of
course, it isn’t as simple as comparing salaries and property prices, as that
measurement disregards issues such as low mortgage rates and the diminishing
proportion of disposable income that is spent on mortgage repayments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On the face of it, the change between 2007 and 2017 in terms of the
‘property-affordability’ hasn’t </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">been that
great. However, look back another 10 years to 1997, and that tells a completely
different story. Nationally, the affordability of property more than halved
between 1997 and today. In 1997, house prices were on average 3.5 times
workers’ annual wages, whereas in 2016 workers could typically expect to spend
around 7.7 times annual wages on purchasing a home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">The issue of a lack of
homeownership has its roots in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It’s quite hard as a
tenant to pay your rent and save money for a deposit simultaneously, meaning
for many Maidstone people, home ownership isn't a realistic goal. Earlier in
the year, the Tories released proposals to combat the country’s 'broken'
housing market, setting out plans to make renting more affordable, while increasing
the security of rental deals and threatening to bring tougher legal action to
cases involving bad landlords. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is all great news for Maidstone tenants and
decent law-abiding Maidstone landlords (and indirectly owner occupier
homeowners). Whatever has happened to salaries or property prices in Maidstone
in the last 10 (or 20) years ... the demand for decent high-quality rental
property keeps growing. If you want a chat about where the Maidstone property
market is going</span></div>
</div>
Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-31653680054322020402017-10-09T13:38:00.003+01:002017-10-10T11:25:44.767+01:00THE PAST, CURRENT & FUTURE OF THE MAIDSTONE PROPERTY MARKET.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Buy To Let
Seminar: Monday 20<sup>th</sup> November 2017 </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Speaker: UK
Property Market Journalist- Christopher Watkin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This seminar
is of interest to Maidstone Buy to Let landlords and property investors,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christopher
Watkins, a leading UK Property Market Journalist and commentator will discuss
what has historically happened in the Maidstone Property Market over the last
30 years, comparing it with other towns in the Kent & Medway areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then after
chatting about Maidstone property values, rents & yields, he will speak
about the future of the Maidstone Property Market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally,
where he considers the next up and coming areas of Maidstone and surrounding
area to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Venue : Village Hotel- Forstal Road, Maidstone (
Junction 6 M20 -Running Horse roundabout)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5.30 for
6pm. Complimentary light refreshments will be served.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Exclusive
Invite only- so please call Seekers to book your place or email : </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:nigel@seekersmaidstone.co.uk">nigel@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</a></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Invest a
small amount of time in exchange for invaluable advice that will benefit your
investment.<span style="color: #7030a0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-80205428132267885772017-09-29T12:30:00.003+01:002017-09-29T12:30:10.919+01:00Maidstone Buy-to-Let Return / Yields – 2.3% to 7.2% a year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">The mind-set and tactics you employ to buy your first Maidstone buy to let property needs to be different to the tactics and methodology of buying a home for yourself to live in. The main difference is when purchasing your own property, you may well pay a little more to get the home you (and your family) want, and are less likely to compromise. When buying for your own use, it is only human nature you will want the best, so that quite often it is at the top end of your budget </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-style: italic;">(because as my parents always used to tell me – you get what you pay for in this world!).</span><span lang="en-GB"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet with a buy to let property, if your goal is a higher rental return – a higher price doesn’t always equate to higher monthly returns – in fact quite the opposite. Inexpensive Maidstone properties can bring in bigger monthly returns. Most landlords use the phrase ‘yield’ instead of monthly return. To calculate the yield on a buy to let property one basically takes the monthly rent, multiplies it by 12 to get the annual rent and then divides it by the value of the property.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This means, if one increases the value of the property using this calculation, the subsequent yield drops. Or to put it another way, if a Maidstone buy to let landlord has the decision of two properties that create the same amount of monthly rent, the landlord can increase their rental yield by selecting the lower priced property.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeYF6FJrfTnRBDgkyzwaajAt83k_VrtFxZ_5_MMW5z3xrBp48B-8-_YOR2FWBXUnUpHIpg5w3Bhik24rXtkcb42nKzEhAE5H-cjrG4bO2-EFmjVMfSoK5T0yLrhB9mZ9Nlhj9l6iBFjKV/s1600/Buy+to+Let.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="1600" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeYF6FJrfTnRBDgkyzwaajAt83k_VrtFxZ_5_MMW5z3xrBp48B-8-_YOR2FWBXUnUpHIpg5w3Bhik24rXtkcb42nKzEhAE5H-cjrG4bO2-EFmjVMfSoK5T0yLrhB9mZ9Nlhj9l6iBFjKV/s320/Buy+to+Let.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span>Now of course these are averages and there will always be properties outside the lower and upper ranges in yields: they are a fair representation of the gross yields you can expect in the Maidstone area.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we move forward, with the total amount of buy to let mortgages amounting to £199,310,614,000 in the country, landlords need to be aware of the investment performance of their property, especially in the era of tax increases and tax relief reductions. Landlords are looking to maximise their yield - and are doing so by buying cheaper properties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, before everyone in Maidstone starts selling their upmarket properties and buying cheap ones, yield isn’t the only factor when deciding on what Maidstone buy to let property to buy. Void periods (i.e. the time when there isn’t a tenant in the property between tenancies) are an important factor and those properties at the cheaper end of the rental spectrum can suffer higher void periods too. Apartments can also have service charges and ground rents that aren’t accounted for in these gross yields. Landlords can also make money if the value of the property goes up and for those Maidstone landlords who are looking for capital growth, an altered investment strategy may be required.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Maidstone, for example, over the last 20 years, this is how the average price paid for the four different types of Maidstone property have changed…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 23.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-GB">Maidstone Detached Properties have increased in value by 251.1% <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 23.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-GB">Maidstone Semi-Detached Properties have increased in value by 274.5%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 23.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-GB">Maidstone Terraced Properties have increased in value by 285.4% <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 23.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-GB">Maidstone Apartments have increased in value by 279.6% <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is very much a balancing act of yield, capital growth and void periods when buying in </span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maidstone. Every landlord’s investment strategy is unique to them. If you would like a fresh pair of eyes to look at your portfolio, be you a private landlord that doesn’t use a letting agent or a landlord that uses one of my competitors – then feel free to drop in and let’s have a chat. What have you got to lose? 30 minutes and my tea making skills are legendary!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"> <o:p></o:p></span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">*For a </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">online</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"> rental or sales valuation please visit our website </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">www.seekershomes.co.uk</span></a><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">*</span></div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-22113829474987436372017-09-07T11:43:00.000+01:002017-09-07T11:43:11.708+01:00Slowing Maidstone Property Market? Yes and No! <div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My thoughts
to the landlords and homeowners of Maidstone…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tightrope
of being a Maidstone buy-to-let landlord is a balancing act many do well at.
Talking to several Maidstone landlords, they are very conscious of their
tenants’ capacity and ability to pay the rent and their own need to raise rents
on their rental properties (as Government figure shows ‘real pay’ has dropped
1% in the last six months). Evidence does suggest many landlords feel more
assured than they were in the spring about pursuing higher rents on their
properties. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the summer
months, historic evidence suggests that the rents new tenants have had to pay on
move in have increased. June/July/August is a time when renters like to move,
demand surges and the normal supply and demand seesaw mean tenants are normally
prepared to pay more to secure the property they want to live in, in the place
they want to be. This is particularly good news for Maidstone landlords as
average Maidstone rents have been on a downward trend recently. So look at the
figures here...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rents in Maidstone on average for new tenants moving in
have risen 0.9% for the month, taking overall annual Maidstone rents 0.9% lower
for the year<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However,
several Maidstone landlords have expressed their apprehensions about a slowing
of the housing market in Maidstone. I think this negativity may be exaggerated.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we get
the Champagne out, the other side of the coin to property investing is capital
values (<i>which will also be of interest to
all the <b>homeowners in Maidstone</b> as
well as the Maidstone buy-to-let landlords</i>). I believe the Maidstone property market has
been trying to find some level of equilibrium since the New Year. According to the Land Registry…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Property Values in Maidstone are 5.64% higher than they
were 12 months ago, rising by 2.3% last month alone!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, I would
take those figures with a pinch of salt as they reflect the sales of Maidstone properties
that took place in early Spring 2017 and now are only exchanging and completing
during the summer months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reality
is the number of properties that are on the market in Maidstone today has risen
by 14.1% since the New Year and that will have a dampening effect on property
values. As tenants have had less choice, buyers now have more choice ... and
that will temper Maidstone property prices as we head towards 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be you a
homeowner or landlord, if you are planning to sell your Maidstone property in
the short term, it is crucial, especially with the rise in the number of properties
on the market, that you <b><i><span style="background: white;">realistically price your property when you bring it
to the market</span></i></b><span style="background: white;"> ... with the increase in choice of properties, the
balance of power during negotiation generally sways towards the buyer. </span>Given that everyone now has access to
property details, including historic stats for how much property have sold for,
they will be more astute during the offer and negotiation stages of a purchase.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbGQT9AgzsU3nWF9H3MNQDrxQalDlVDVNmdgZdElxfsrILL0p9ILibmoO4A9nOYDuOyUL5x4Q3-zCS9Tx1A33NxdkloY2ysvLvvL1U3l2R309MYE_KtEDLYlzkKm772y2kg-4c1-ceNqF/s1600/Pic+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="563" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbGQT9AgzsU3nWF9H3MNQDrxQalDlVDVNmdgZdElxfsrILL0p9ILibmoO4A9nOYDuOyUL5x4Q3-zCS9Tx1A33NxdkloY2ysvLvvL1U3l2R309MYE_KtEDLYlzkKm772y2kg-4c1-ceNqF/s200/Pic+1.png" width="200" /></a><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, even with this uplift in the number of
properties for sale in Maidstone, property prices will remain stable and strong
in the medium to long term. This is because the number of properties on the
market today is still way below the peak of summer of 2008, when there were 1,812
properties for sale compared to the current level of 790 (<i>if you recall, prices dropped by nearly 20% in Credit Crunch years of ‘08
and ‘09</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Compared to 2008, today’s lower
supply of Maidstone properties for sale will keep prices relatively high...and
they will continue to stay at these levels for the medium to long term.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Less people are moving than a few years ago, meaning less
property is for sale. Fewer properties for sale mean property prices remain
relatively high and this is because of a number of underlying reasons. Firstly,
buy-to-let landlords tend not sell their properties as often than owner-occupiers,
consequently removing the property out of the housing market selling cycle.
Secondly, Stamp Duty is much higher compared to 10 years ago (meaning it costs
more to move). Next, there is a dearth of local authority rental housing so
demand for private rented housing will remain high. Then we have the UK’s
maturing owner occupier population, meaning these older people are less likely
to move (compared to when they were younger). Another reason is the lack of new
homes being built in the country (<i>we need
240k houses a year to be built in the UK and we are currently only building
145k a year!</i>) and finally, the new mortgage rules introduced in 2014 about
how much a person can borrow on a mortgage has curtailed demand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some final thought’s before I go – to all the <b><i>Maidstone
homeowners</i></b> that aren’t planning to sell – this talk of price changes is
only on paper profit or loss. To those that are moving ... most people that
sell, are buyers as well, so as you might not get as much for yours, the one
you will want to buy won’t be as much, (swings and roundabouts as Mum used to
say!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To all the <b><i>Maidstone landlords</i></b> – keep your eyes peeled – I have a feeling
there may be some decent buy-to-let deals to be had in the coming months. One
place for such deals, irrespective of which agent is selling it, is my Maidstone
Property Blog ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwQe2lNMg8EhIMBTzymWSqgGbuHq2glm_NZzg2DbV11JRhFV8rgLw3Uc1afH8P7dWeR3UytdylZcCLBJqnabkEjjtqyr8euPB70ut07AYwftaVRxDE_vkuiIPzutwGRLxqzRCvkxR1odp/s1600/Pra+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="579" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwQe2lNMg8EhIMBTzymWSqgGbuHq2glm_NZzg2DbV11JRhFV8rgLw3Uc1afH8P7dWeR3UytdylZcCLBJqnabkEjjtqyr8euPB70ut07AYwftaVRxDE_vkuiIPzutwGRLxqzRCvkxR1odp/s400/Pra+1.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-53352144093169166692017-08-30T10:30:00.000+01:002017-08-30T11:02:16.640+01:00Supply and Demand Issues mean Maidstone Property Values Rise by 4.4% in the Last 12 Months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4Pm0kajifB2qrYJuPp34rLqxCRj3P78CbwrDbIGyj4ph7bdeDhzuiirQY71ohD9dNKWE-7y7JLpBdRum15A-geDRZmVCokgm_dZu80Vv9gb83nv5yV5GME4zZ2DSu988K-vp77vTHVKV/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4Pm0kajifB2qrYJuPp34rLqxCRj3P78CbwrDbIGyj4ph7bdeDhzuiirQY71ohD9dNKWE-7y7JLpBdRum15A-geDRZmVCokgm_dZu80Vv9gb83nv5yV5GME4zZ2DSu988K-vp77vTHVKV/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The most recent set of data from the Land Registry has stated that
property values in Maidstone and the surrounding area were 4.4% higher than 12
months ago and 17.91% higher than January 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite the uncertainty
over Brexit as Maidstone (and most of the UK’s) property values </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">continue their medium and long-term
upward trajectory. As economics is about supply and demand, the story behind
the Maidstone property market can also be seen from those two sides of the
story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Looking at the supply issues of the Maidstone property
market, putting aside the short-term dearth of property on the market, one of the
main reasons of this sustained house price growth has been down to of the lack
of building new homes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">The
draconian planning laws, that over the last 70 years (starting with </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><em><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Town and Country
Planning Act 1947</span></em><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">) has meant the amount of land built on in the UK today, only
stands at 1.8% (no, that’s not a typo – its one point eight percent) and that
is made </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">up of 1.1% with residential
property and 0.7% for commercial property. Now I am not advocating building modern
ugly carbuncles and high-rise flats in the Cotswolds, nor blot the landscape with
the building of massive out of place ugly 1,000 home housing estates around the
beautiful countryside of such villages as Hunton, Hollingbourne and East
Farleigh. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The facts are, with the restrictions
on building homes for people to live in, because of these 70-year-old
restrictive planning regulations, homes that the youngsters of Maidstone badly
need, aren’t being built. <span style="color: red;">Adding fuel to that fire,
there has been a large dose of nimby-ism and landowners deliberately sitting on
land, which has kept land values high and from that keeps house prices high.</span></span><span style="color: red; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Looking at
the demand side of the equation, one might have thought property values would
drop because of Brexit and buyers uncertainty. However, certain commenters now
believe property values might rise because of Brexit. Many people are risk
adverse, especially with their hard-earned savings. The stock market is at an
all-time high (<i>ready to pop again?</i>) and
many people don’t trust the money markets. The thing about property is its
tangible, bricks and mortar, you can touch it and you can easily understand it.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Brits have
historically put their faith in bricks and mortar, which they expect to rise in
value, in numerical terms, at least. Nationally, the value of property has
risen by 635.4% since 1984 whilst the stock market has risen by a very similar 593.1%.
However, the stock market has had a roller coaster of a ride to get to those
figures. For example, in the dot com bubble of the early 2000’s, the FTSE100
dropped 126.3% in two years and it dropped again by 44.6% in 9 months in 2007…
the worst drop Maidstone saw in property values was just 20.05% in the 2008/9
credit crunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite the slowdown
in the rate of annual property value growth in Maidstone to the current 4.4%,
from the heady days of 13.39% annual increases seen in mid 2010, it can be
argued the headline rate of Maidstone property price inflation is holding up
well, especially with the squeeze on real incomes, new taxation rules for
landlords and the slight ambiguity around Brexit. With mortgage rates at an
all-time low and tumbling unemployment, all these factors are largely
continuing to help support property values in Maidstone (and the UK).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kWMKCjIbm3zzUW6eSjtizOnWQLa7-d5EWmQ-JNqk2rY8Z5Fmv9gw-SBG3yh41grASAnJuINHk7GYbZKaTdLaRR7qw0GmsayUIZ6i0wDxhsXdZx6u4ILLguSdPfn4kpt6DVf8B1T-pnTw/s1600/Grapgh+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1365" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kWMKCjIbm3zzUW6eSjtizOnWQLa7-d5EWmQ-JNqk2rY8Z5Fmv9gw-SBG3yh41grASAnJuINHk7GYbZKaTdLaRR7qw0GmsayUIZ6i0wDxhsXdZx6u4ILLguSdPfn4kpt6DVf8B1T-pnTw/s320/Grapgh+4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p>Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-48883257238058936122017-08-07T12:02:00.003+01:002017-08-07T12:02:57.099+01:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>The Maidstone Property Market, The Beatles, Sweden and 50 year mortgages</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s1600/Maidstone+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz3rWLwmW4Pcvi5EpXMjCo3ahoarK2DaDtz6jp5Isp5uYVo9wD5iA99hdTXjh945I9fr7_pqLhqW521iqMJmlQqUDnm_PAg9kL_jY4WwTTP21Y5bp42Jjcd_4JGdx0RCC876fKBY9tlu6/s320/Maidstone+View.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">50 years ago, in 1967, the first human heart transplant was performed by Dr Christian Barnard in South Africa. In the same year Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side to the right-hand side of the road. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The average value of a Maidstone property was £4,512, interest rates were at 5.5% and The Beatles released one of my favourite albums – their Sgt Peppers album ... but what the hell has that to do with the Maidstone property market today?? Quite a lot actually ... so with my CD Player turned up loud - let me explain my friends!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been doing some research on the current attitude of Maidstone first-time buyers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First-time buyers are so important for both landlords and homeowners. If first-time buyers aren’t buying, they still need a roof over their heads, so they rent (good news for landlords). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8-XkuwH5CC3upR_qY_3u7BJCqLvtaG0dnxcgcSPdkCDRtTiqdM20EjwRveEiu6PmXWGpptQ5m1EOAqXmDnFUPcCNb_7aOWveAFokU4tU5yEMBpsoMPZyYpeYfulv3keh1fL_RACYInih/s1600/175+graphic+1+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1600" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8-XkuwH5CC3upR_qY_3u7BJCqLvtaG0dnxcgcSPdkCDRtTiqdM20EjwRveEiu6PmXWGpptQ5m1EOAqXmDnFUPcCNb_7aOWveAFokU4tU5yEMBpsoMPZyYpeYfulv3keh1fL_RACYInih/s320/175+graphic+1+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The average value of a Maidstone property is currently standing at £340,223 and UK interest rates at 0.25%. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As each year goes by, it appears the age of the everlasting mortgage has started to emerge, prompted by these first-time buyers, eager to get a foot on the housing ladder. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was reading a report a few days ago where some mortgage companies con-fessed that the battle to gain big returns from the property market has led to mortgages that will take considerably longer than the customary 25 years to pay off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the last few years, it has been commonplace for first-time buyer mortgages to be 30 and 35 years in length as the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ have been helping with the deposit (Beatles Sgt Pepper song - “With a Little Help from My Friends”). Now, some high street banks are offering mortgage terms of 40 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This means first-time buyers could be paying until their mid 60’s - I can hear that other great track from the same album "When I'm Sixty-Four" ring-ing in my ears! So, a 50-year mortgage does not seem as far-fetched now as it would have been back in the 1970’s. After all life expectancy for a male then was exactly 69 years and today its 79 years and 5 months!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4Ir6smbEpaEdg5o2XHzYg-Cn7qnJyPLnyL5RVM9JwGfb48cNglhdNw1TVGVFi43TngVDONVfX4kTh_vxaxXKPJdFKS6CntDiS6Ik8_r-EPqLJ3yNxAxQrVhsW3m88x3zGNn4dwVZCOdE/s1600/175+graphic+3+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1093" data-original-width="1600" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4Ir6smbEpaEdg5o2XHzYg-Cn7qnJyPLnyL5RVM9JwGfb48cNglhdNw1TVGVFi43TngVDONVfX4kTh_vxaxXKPJdFKS6CntDiS6Ik8_r-EPqLJ3yNxAxQrVhsW3m88x3zGNn4dwVZCOdE/s320/175+graphic+3+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the last ten years, Maidstone property prices have continued to rise more than wages, therefore, first-time buyers are looking for bigger loans. If this development continues, the only way repayments can remain reasonable is by increasing the term of the loan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, some commenters have said there are worries the mortgage companies are lending money over such a long term, they threaten leaving some first-time buyers with a generation of debt if the house price bubble bursts. Interestingly, when I looked at what had happened to average property values in Maidstone over the last 50 years, there have been bubbles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First-time buyers should take heart, since as a county we have always recovered from it a few years later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if interest rates rise? Well looking at historic UK interest rates, the current rate of 0.25% is at a 300-year low. Mortgages will never be cheaper. I would however, seriously consider fixing the rate to cushion any future potential interest rate rises (since they can only go in one direction when they do change). If Maidstone first-time buyers see buying a home as a long-term decision, based on the last 50 years, they should be just fine!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I go, a final thought for property buyers in Sweden, the land of Volvo and Abba. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Swedish property prices are so high, Swedish Regulators announced last year limits on the length of Swedish mortgage terms. They don’t bother with 50-year mortgages (On and On and On – Abba).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, our Volvo-loving Swedish friend’s average mortgage length is 140 years (this is not a typo). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although such mortgages have had their Waterloo (Abba), regulators have significantly reduced the maximum term of a Swedish mortgage to 105 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Either way, that’s a lot of Money, Money, Money (Abba again – Sorry!) to pay back!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I will leave you in peace as I listen to the 1980’s Madness song ‘Our House’. My apologies to all the Beatles and Abba fans in Maidstone - a bit of light hearted fun albeit on serious topic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-20990701408726604782017-08-07T11:08:00.000+01:002017-08-07T11:08:12.017+01:001 in 8 Maidstone Properties are Leasehold<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are 23.36 million properties in England and Wales with 64% being owner occupied and 36% being rented either from a private landlord, local authority or housing association.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over nine out of ten of those English and Welsh owner-occupied properties are a whole house or bungalow. Now, most people would assume they would be freehold - however, of those renting nearly half of rental properties, 44% to be precise, lived in other leasehold apartments and flats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It might be wise to quickly explain the difference between free-hold and leasehold. When someone owns the freehold of a property they own it outright, including the land it is built on, whilst with a leasehold property the leaseholder owns the property for the length of their lease agreement. Leaseholders must pay the person who owns land (the freeholder) ground rent and other fees. When the leasehold ends, ownership re-turns to the freeholder although the leaseholder can extend the lease or they can buy the freeholder out, but there are rules and regulations with regards doing that.</span></div>
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Looking specifically at the figures for Maidstone, at the last count in ME14-ME16 there were 49,329 properties. Since 1995, 45,946 properties in ME14-ME16 have changed hands and have been sold. Looking further at those 45,946 transactions</div>
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in ME14-ME16 since 1995, using data from Land Registry and solicitors practice My Home Move,11.99% have been leasehold (lower than the national average of 15%).</div>
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However, I am concerned about a few new homes builders selling new houses (not flats - houses) as leasehold. There has been a growing (yet small) trend for new-build houses to be sold as leasehold in recent years. While not all house builders use this model, those that do maintain it helps make developments financially viable. </div>
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The issue comes when builders sell the freehold separately to an investment company without informing the lease holder – which they are legally allowed to do without telling the leaseholder. In England and Wales, the "right of first refusal" to buy the freehold is written in law to leaseholders of flats i.e. the freeholder must offer it to the leaseholders of all the flats of the building first), but not leaseholders of houses. .. and this is the point I am trying to get across. If you are buying a new home and it’s a house (i.e. not a flat) – please check very carefully indeed whether its freehold or leasehold. </div>
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If it is a leasehold, whilst you do have rights, they are not as strong as for those people buying a leasehold flat. I appreciate I am only talking about a very small percentage of the property market, but potentially this could end up costing ......</div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-45719573021820158232017-08-03T13:18:00.000+01:002017-08-03T13:18:08.885+01:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-align: center;">
<span lang="en-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">Maidstone Property Market and Mysterious Politics of the General Election<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">As the dust starts to settle on the various unread General Election party manifestos, with their ‘bran-bucket’ made up numbers, life goes back to normal as political rhetoric on social media is replaced with pictures of cats and people’s lunch. Joking aside though, all the political parties promised so much on the housing front in their manifestos, should they be elected at the General Election. In hindsight, irrespective of which party, they seldom deliver on those promises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">Housing has always been the Cinderella issue at General Elections. Policing, NHS, Education, Tax and Pensions etc., are always headline grabbing stuff and always seem to go ‘the ball’. However, housing, which affects all our lives, always seems to get left behind and forgotten. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">One policy that comes to mind is Margaret Thatcher’s Council House sell off in the 1980’s, when around 1.4m council houses went from public ownership to private ownership. It was a great vote winner at the time (</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">it helped her win three General Elections in a row</span><span lang="en-GB">) but it has meant the current generation of 20 somethings in Maidstone (and elsewhere in the Country) don’t have that option of going into a council house. This has been a huge contributing factor in the rise of the private renting and buy to let in Maidstone over the last 15 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"> <o:p></o:p></span><span lang="en-GB">Nevertheless, looking back to the start of the Millennium, Labour set the national target for new house building at 200,000 new homes a year (and at one point that increased to </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri;">240,000 under Gordon Brown for a couple of years). In terms of what was actually built, the figures did rise in the mid Noughties from 186,000 properties built in 2004 to an impressive 224,000 in 2007 (the highest since the early 1980’s) as the economy grew.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri;">Then the Credit Crunch hit. It is interesting, that the 2010 Cameron/Clegg government did things a little differently. The fallout of the Credit Crunch meant a lot less homes were built, so instead of tackling that head on, the coalition </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri;">side-stepped the target of the number</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri;"> of new homes to build and offered a £400m fund to help kick start the housing market (a figure that was a drop in the ocean when you consider an average UK property was worth around £230,000 in 2010). The number of new houses being completed dipped from 146,800 in 2011 to 135</span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #454545; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #454545; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">,500 the subsequent year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">So, one might ask exactly how many new homes do we need to build per year? It is commonly accepted that not enough new properties are being built to meet the rising need for homes to live in. A report by the Government in 2016, showed that on average 210,000 net additional households will be formed each year) up to 2039 (</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">through increased birth rates, immigration, people living longer, lifestyle (i.e. divorce) and people living by themselves more than 30 years ago</span><span lang="en-GB">). In 2016, only 140,600 homes were built ... simply not enough!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB"> </span>Looking at the numbers locally in Maidstone and the surrounding area, it is obvious to me, that we as an area, are not pulling our weight either when it comes to building new homes. Although in the 12 months up to the end of Q1 2017, 1,130 properties were built in the Maidstone District Council area, we may still need to do better. Go back to 2007, that figure was 720, 10 years before that in 1997, 380 new homes and further back to 1988, 1,000 new homes were built.</div>
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<span lang="en-GB">Who knows if Teresa May’s Government will last the five years? She will think she has bigger fish to fry with Brexit to get bogged down with housing issues. But let me leave you with one final thought.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">The conceivable rewards in providing a place to live for the public on a massive house building programme can be enormous, as previous Tory PM’s have found out. Winston Churchill in 1951, asked his Minister for Housing (Harold Macmillan) if he could </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; font-weight: bold; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #902C92; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">guarantee the construction of 300,000 new properties a year</span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #902c92; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #902C92; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">, </span><span lang="en-GB">he was notoriously told: “</span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">It is a gamble—it will make or mar your political career, but every humble home will bless your name if you succeed</span><span lang="en-GB">.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">Isn’t it interesting, that the Tories remained in power until 1964! </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #333333; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"> Mrs May </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">will have to work out if she wants to be the heiress</span><span lang="en-GB"> to Harold Macmillan or David Cameron? </span><span lang="en-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Claire Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17133768982389908302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-22570326840246637122017-04-28T08:23:00.000+01:002017-04-28T08:23:11.864+01:00How The Rented Sector Has Transformed The Property Market In Maidstone<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_s9nVKi-50woVqksjc9m2TkImULi1RVl-prvSXWd4AxbjvpoXShqM9D7HRS6FoX6XRjUx7cp87-xc26VjJyTHLpeJhOdWfEyj_lpxixUCoWvjeIMixzeB-v4fnzCtPtPHxDnmvGL_lK_/s1600/157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_s9nVKi-50woVqksjc9m2TkImULi1RVl-prvSXWd4AxbjvpoXShqM9D7HRS6FoX6XRjUx7cp87-xc26VjJyTHLpeJhOdWfEyj_lpxixUCoWvjeIMixzeB-v4fnzCtPtPHxDnmvGL_lK_/s640/157.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Maidstone housing market has
gone through a sea change in the past decades with the Buy-to-Let (B-T-L) sector
evolving as a key trend, for both Maidstone tenants and Maidstone landlords.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A few weeks ago, the Government
released a White Paper on housing. I have had a chance now to digest the report
and wish to offer my thoughts on the topic. It was interesting that the private
rental sector played a major part in the future plans for housing. This is especially
important for our growing Maidstone population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1981, the population of the Maidstone Borough
Council area stood at 130,800 and today it stands at 164,500.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Currently, the private rented (B-T-L)
sector accounts for 15.9% of households in the town. The Government want to assist people living
in the houses and help the economy by encouraging the provision of quality
homes, in a housing sector that has grown due to worldwide economic forces,
pushing home ownership out of the reach of more and more people. Interestingly,
when we look at the 1981 figures for homeownership, a different story is told.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">66.94%
Maidstone people owned their own home in 1981<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">22.25%
Maidstone people rented from the Council or Housing Association in 1981<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and 10.81% Maidstone rented from a Private Landlord
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The significance of a suitable
housing policy is vital to ensure suitable economic activity and create a
vibrant place people want to live in. With the population of the Maidstone area set to grow to 202,000 by 2037
– it is imperative that Maidstone Borough Council and Central Government all
work actively together to ensure the residential property market doesn’t hold
the area back, by encouraging the building and provision of quality homes for
its inhabitants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One idea the Government has
proclaimed is a variety of measures aimed at encouraging the Build-to-Rent (B-T-R)
sector (instead of the B-T-L sector). These include allowing local authorities
to proactively plan for B-T-R schemes, and making it simpler for B-T-R
developers to offer inexpensive private rented homes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7GG7G51mhjAZvTaP_yvgoLev4X0RlyNbBHjyO0eF4lYhig7FMazQPYmWh1BTqhKl-GU_KLUTqR3CKbpa7iRfIKd3s3DtYizibVMPVztc2xOpw0zDTMcGOhWVRLvyv3Dh00bibx3ApfgQ/s1600/157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7GG7G51mhjAZvTaP_yvgoLev4X0RlyNbBHjyO0eF4lYhig7FMazQPYmWh1BTqhKl-GU_KLUTqR3CKbpa7iRfIKd3s3DtYizibVMPVztc2xOpw0zDTMcGOhWVRLvyv3Dh00bibx3ApfgQ/s640/157.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To do this, the
government will invent a distinct affordable housing class for B-T-R, called ‘Affordable
Private Rent’, which will oblige new homes builders to provide at least 1 in 5
of a new home developments at a 20% discount on open-market rents and three
year tenancies for tenants. In return, the new homebuilders will get better
planning assurances. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Private landlords will not be
expected to offer discounts, nor offer 3-year tenancies – but it is something Maidstone
landlords need to be aware of as there will be greater competition for tenants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over the last ten years, home
ownership has not been a primary goal for young adults as the world has changed.
These youngsters expect ‘on demand’ services from click and collect, Amazon, Dating
Apps and TV with the likes of Netflix. <span lang="EN-US">Many Maidstone youngsters see that renting more than meets their
accommodation needs, as it combines the freedom from a lifetime of property
maintenance and financial obligations, making it an attractive lifestyle
option.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Private rented housing in Maidstone<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>, be it B-T-L or B-T-R, has the prospective to play a very
positive role. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">If you are looking for an agent that is well <b>established, professional</b> and<b>communicative</b>, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><b>claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><b>01622 671878</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-31201162686541236622017-03-17T07:30:00.000+00:002017-03-17T07:30:07.312+00:00Maidstone’s ‘Generation Trapped’ and the £9.05bn legacy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrMeeypQ950hWRL1KLVRJcYgwr6spT4vpYt5-mug6qlzcDyXR-v3lsw1ixNsPK6mpJxiIv-YKTFpuyMYL9Jq3GuAMCFN0vu4djh8pyoQ3dTDLLPCJf25B_NC3WkhAEg7AmUwY3vdCbjtG/s1600/156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrMeeypQ950hWRL1KLVRJcYgwr6spT4vpYt5-mug6qlzcDyXR-v3lsw1ixNsPK6mpJxiIv-YKTFpuyMYL9Jq3GuAMCFN0vu4djh8pyoQ3dTDLLPCJf25B_NC3WkhAEg7AmUwY3vdCbjtG/s400/156.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Last week, I wrote an article on the plight of the Maidstone
20 something’s often referred to by the press as ‘Generation Rent’. Attitudes
to renting have certainly changed over the last twenty years and as my analysis
suggested, this change is likely to be permanent. In the article, whilst a
minority of this Generation Rent feel trapped, the majority don’t – making
renting a choice not a predicament. The Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS) predicted that the private rental sector is likely to grow substantially
by 1.8m households across the UK in the next 8 years, with demand for rental
property unlikely to slow and newly formed households continuing to choose the
rental market as opposed to buying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, my
real concern for Maidstone homeowners and Maidstone landlords alike, as I
discussed a couple of months ago, is our mature members of the population of Maidstone.
In that previous article, I stated that the current OAP’s (65+ yrs in age) in Maidstone
were sitting on £4.01bn of residential property ... however, I didn’t talk in
depth about the ‘Baby Boomers’, the 50yr to 64yr old Maidstone people and what
their properties are worth – and more importantly, how the current state of
affairs could be holding back those younger Generation Renters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In Maidstone,
there are 7,655 households whose owners are aged between 50yrs and 64yrs and
about to pay their mortgage off. That property is worth, in today’s prices, £2.52bn.
There are an additional 7,626 mortgage free Maidstone households, owned by 50yr
to 64yr olds, worth £2.51bn in today’s prices, meaning...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Maidstone Baby Boomers and Maidstone OAP’s are sitting </b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on £9.05bn worth of Maidstone Property<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These Maidstone
Baby Boomers and OAP’s are sitting on 27,471 Maidstone properties and many of
them feel trapped in their homes, and hence I have dubbed them ‘Generation
Trapped’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recently, the
English Housing Survey stated 49% of these properties owned by the Generation
Trapped, as I have dubbed them, are ‘under-occupied’ (under-occupied classed as
having at least two bedrooms more than needed). These houses could be better
utilised by younger families, but research carried out by the Prudential
suggest in Britain it’s estimated that only one in ten older people downsize
while in the USA for example one in five do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The growing
numbers of older homeowners who want to downsize their home are often put off
by the difficulties of moving. The charity United for all Ages, suggested
recently many are put off by the lack of housing options, 19% by the hassle and
cost of moving, 14% by having to declutter their possessions and 14% by family
reasons such as staying close to children and grandchildren.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Helping mature
Maidstone (and the Country) homeowners to downsize at the right time will also
enable younger Maidstone people to find the homes they need – meaning every
generation wins, both young and old. However, to ensure downsizing works, as a
Country, we need more choices for these ‘last time buyers’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Theresa May
and Philip Hammond can do their part and consider stamp duty tax breaks for
downsizers, our local Council in Maidstone and the Planning Dept. should play
their part, as should landlords and property investors to ensure Maidstone’s
‘Generation Trapped’ can find suitable property locally, close to friends,
family and facilities.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">If you are looking for an agent that is well <b>established, professional</b> and<b>communicative</b>, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><b>claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><b>01622 671878</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-40498636156569079292017-03-10T07:00:00.000+00:002017-03-10T07:00:11.048+00:00‘Generation Rent (Forever)’ – 6,311 Maidstone Tenants have no intention of ever buying a property to call home<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The good old days of the 1970’s and 1980’s eh … with such <s>highlights</s>
lowlights as 24% inflation, 17% interest rates, 3 day working week, 13%
unemployment, power cuts ... those were the days (not)… but at least people
could afford to buy their own home. So why aren’t the 20 and 30 something’s
buying in the same numbers as they were 30 or 40 years ago?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many people blame the credit crunch and global recession of
2008, which had an enormous impact on the Maidstone (and UK) housing market. Predominantly,
the 20 something first-time buyers who, confronting a problematic mortgage
market, the perceived need for big deposits, reduced job security and declining
disposable income, discovered it challenging to assemble the monetary means to
get on to the Maidstone property ladder.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, I would say there has been something else at play
other than the issue of raising a deposit - having sufficient income and rising
property prices in Maidstone. Whilst these are important factors and barriers
to homeownership, I also believe there has been a generational change in
attitudes towards home ownership in Maidstone (and in fact the rest of the
Country).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back in 2011, the Halifax did a survey of thousands of
tenants and 19% of tenants said they had no plans to buy a home for themselves.
A recent, almost identical survey of tenants, carried out by The Deposit
Protection Service revealed, in late 2016, that figure had risen to 38.4%, with
many no-longer equating home ownership to success and believing renting to be
better suited to their lifestyle. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You see, I believe renting is a fundamental part of the
housing sector, and a meaningful proportion of the younger adult members of the
Maidstone population choose to be tenants as it better suits their plans and
lifestyle. Local Government in Maidstone (including the planners – especially
the planners), land owners and landlords need an adaptable Maidstone residential
property sector that allows the diverse choices of these Maidstone 20 and 30
year olds to be met.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This means, if we applied the same percentages to the
current 16,435 Maidstone tenants in their 7,008 private rental properties, 6,311
tenants have no plans to ever buy a property – good news for the landlords of
those 2,691 properties. Interestingly, in the same report, just under two
thirds (62%) of tenants said they didn’t expect to buy within the next year.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HsN3asSboAfHwiNlLN3hIZA88w2hkgtm8UfY3w8sySdd6s8S4XJ6y8Kh0NGKu_vUFDUjb6dTkhf8beYF2WAanE8klGE1k_EWPVthD7qlInFONn3-GKSU7Q74F3RGw4pZQMJ4vYTG1qXq/s1600/155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HsN3asSboAfHwiNlLN3hIZA88w2hkgtm8UfY3w8sySdd6s8S4XJ6y8Kh0NGKu_vUFDUjb6dTkhf8beYF2WAanE8klGE1k_EWPVthD7qlInFONn3-GKSU7Q74F3RGw4pZQMJ4vYTG1qXq/s400/155.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.. but does that mean the other third will be buying in Maidstone
in the next 12 months?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some will, but most won’t … in fact, the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicts that, by 2025, that the number of people
renting will increase, not drop. Yes, many tenants might hope to buy but the
reality is different for the reasons set out above. The RICS predicts the number of tenants
looking to rent will increase by 1.8 million households by 2025, as rising
house prices continue to make home ownership increasingly unaffordable for
younger generations. So, if we applied
this rise to Maidstone, we will in fact need an additional 3,003 private rental
properties over the next eight years (or 375 a year) … meaning the number of
private rented properties in Maidstone is projected to rise to an eye watering 10,011
households<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For more insight and thoughts like this on the Maidstone
Property Market – please visit the Maidstone Property Blog.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">If you are looking for an agent that is well <b>established, professional</b> and <b>communicative</b>, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>01622 671878</b></span><span style="background-color: white;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Maidstone, UK51.270363 0.522698999999988751.190874500000007 0.36133749999998871 51.3498515 0.68406049999998864tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-59942494060207318002017-03-03T07:00:00.000+00:002017-03-03T07:00:33.687+00:00Maidstone First Time Buyers borrow £101.6m in the last 12 months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1AljUiaFy2BST5qeL15IfSQTSxRoGj7vVKZpy5BUdvv1ggzh72SnDIfFA8WrCvvzAavP5G0ZpBVA5l0eAXvGu74OHw6nRaeTFjDBdle0lAFVHHuMABf_A-QVlM0Xvvg4s4aW2cjjjYSL/s1600/154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1AljUiaFy2BST5qeL15IfSQTSxRoGj7vVKZpy5BUdvv1ggzh72SnDIfFA8WrCvvzAavP5G0ZpBVA5l0eAXvGu74OHw6nRaeTFjDBdle0lAFVHHuMABf_A-QVlM0Xvvg4s4aW2cjjjYSL/s640/154.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br />Starting with the bigger picture,
over the last 12 months in the UK, 1,061,557 properties were sold with a total
value of £223.74 bn. To give that some context, ten years ago 1,581,727 properties
sold with a total value of £405.56bn, so it can be seen the number of people
moving house has dropped by over a third over the last decade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwZfONMp15V0y1Xe2XeXzC07ia3DLmiAoxA6afiyqqSI7JqUMQ_Ix6x22Bx210RxR7kqMhKreLRpMh0XJlHsfZsI17S783oRemaTfkfv4G_T2z4HLo9pt0FTTdCXxSBUNyA9Fk95outHa/s1600/154+pic+filler.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwZfONMp15V0y1Xe2XeXzC07ia3DLmiAoxA6afiyqqSI7JqUMQ_Ix6x22Bx210RxR7kqMhKreLRpMh0XJlHsfZsI17S783oRemaTfkfv4G_T2z4HLo9pt0FTTdCXxSBUNyA9Fk95outHa/s400/154+pic+filler.PNG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether you are a landlord,
homeowner or tenant, it’s always important to keep an eye on the Maidstone property
market, not just from your point of view, but also from every player’s point of
view. Over the last 12 months, 2,115 properties have sold (and completed) in Maidstone,
worth £616.07m. Interestingly the number of properties changing hands in Maidstone
has also dropped when compared to a decade ago.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAykjv2y6x0xIEyj_9oqJFwz3qrRVxHAdJjOQto-hD7qDXr4zcBL8eVZ9FuSeFEhQgKQCzG6Sp_My_8xWfuhu8p30H4WrwmJiPm-2zufsBTYFW2RmOkjOImWr5wjrhvQBSKpEv5H0YfAq/s1600/154+MAIN+GRAPH.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAykjv2y6x0xIEyj_9oqJFwz3qrRVxHAdJjOQto-hD7qDXr4zcBL8eVZ9FuSeFEhQgKQCzG6Sp_My_8xWfuhu8p30H4WrwmJiPm-2zufsBTYFW2RmOkjOImWr5wjrhvQBSKpEv5H0YfAq/s400/154+MAIN+GRAPH.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It might surprise you that first
time buyers in 2017 will benefit from a slight decline in Maidstone buy-to-let
investors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those looking to buy a home in the spring
and summer of 2017 will face a far less competitive Maidstone property market
than the same time of year in 2016, when the urgency to beat the buy-to-let
stamp duty hike was in full swing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many landlords brought forward their
purchases to beat the tax, and since then, the number of buy-to-let purchases
has dropped slightly. First time buyers have taken advantage of that and have
increased their buying. In fact, looking at the Bank of England figures, this
is what UK lenders have lent on buy-to-let properties versus first time buyers over
the last 12 months …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="p1" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Q4 2015 - £1bn buy-to-let mortgages <b><i>vs</i></b>
£1.31bn for first time buyers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Q1 2016 - £1.35bn buy-to-let mortgages <b><i>vs</i></b>
£1.08bn for first time buyers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Q2 2016 - £760m buy-to-let mortgages <b><i>vs</i></b>
£1.28bn for first time buyers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Q3 2016 - £827m buy-to-let mortgages <b><i>vs</i></b>
£1.42bn for first time buyers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When looking at the figures for Maidstone
itself, first time buyers have borrowed more than £101.6m in the last 12 months
to buy their first home. This is a ringing endorsement of their confidence in
their jobs and the local Maidstone economy. Those 20 and 30 something’s who are
considering being first time buyers in 2017 will find that the number of
properties on the market has never been as good as it has for quite a while,
meaning you have more choice of properties and less competition from so many
buy-to-let landlords than a year ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rightmove announced nationally that new
seller enquiries are 26% up on the same time last year giving the stoutest
indication that we may see a slight ease in the lack of properties on the
market. When I look at Maidstone, at this moment in time there are 692
properties for sale, compared to 527 properties a year ago. All this will be
welcome news amongst Maidstone first-time buyers with a combination of a proportional
reduction in new investors and landlords.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1FgGU9-fgzp5i7xtN2-hKP-JtEOsbbhODYgrPnrsQqIAryv2wrK3u9i4yNg3Sl5DqSBK9WOkFBOR-PtN7VvlN88OpbGLPZgbaO22ph-Nw6Ttxh-8K8QCEkHtVsFlr_zXYKTdJW4ZGFgz/s1600/Secondary+154+graph.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1FgGU9-fgzp5i7xtN2-hKP-JtEOsbbhODYgrPnrsQqIAryv2wrK3u9i4yNg3Sl5DqSBK9WOkFBOR-PtN7VvlN88OpbGLPZgbaO22ph-Nw6Ttxh-8K8QCEkHtVsFlr_zXYKTdJW4ZGFgz/s400/Secondary+154+graph.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2017 will be an interesting year for all
homeowners, be they buy-to-let landlords, existing homeowners or future
homeowners. For more thoughts on the Maidstone
property market like this, you might want to visit the Maidstone Property
Market Property Blog</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">01622 671878</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-8721567357072333332017-02-24T09:12:00.001+00:002017-03-02T16:04:22.229+00:00With 16,435 people in Private Rented Properties in Maidstone - Should you still be investing in Maidstone Buy To Let?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDi3y8R7YZRsPFdUN8DYl2XOVzXExz3IJv6fFWEqczHcWhLEViM65_8GxZg33nbL0y4YkhNXV5ycakBwaOXv1nYy4fGAIwNzRmZ2NQWVj6J77fSDM28EuCnONucrsVTNC9L1Pepwq49G4/s1600/153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDi3y8R7YZRsPFdUN8DYl2XOVzXExz3IJv6fFWEqczHcWhLEViM65_8GxZg33nbL0y4YkhNXV5ycakBwaOXv1nYy4fGAIwNzRmZ2NQWVj6J77fSDM28EuCnONucrsVTNC9L1Pepwq49G4/s400/153.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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 …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 520px;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Maidstone - Accommodation Type and
the Number of Occupiers</b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Owned outright - Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #FFC000; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 101.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Owned with a mortgage - Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 101.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shared ownership (part owned and part
rented) - Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #00B050; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 101.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Social rented (aka Council Housing)
- Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #0070C0; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 101.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Private rented - Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #9437FF; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 101.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Living rent free - Maidstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 35.05pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">25,792<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">46,286<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1,153<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">15,100<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">16,435<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 35.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">784<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 33.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 33.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">24.4%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 33.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">43.9%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 33.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.1%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 33.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">14.3%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 33.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">15.6%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 33.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" width="87"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">0.7%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> should be aware of: the change in the
anthropological nature of these 20 something potential first time buyers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYCXrzPidWWDk4AJwPlRntaBiEtukX45BXFTHx8zqBYQxbrQ4YA7kg3XuKVaqNYR0L7OLoNknZbB69l5P9qhzAMwFqKj4-Z0vDMJe-zpsChWqu5NluzJRNQTYN4nS90UXOXNUwhVvf49e/s1600/153_dough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYCXrzPidWWDk4AJwPlRntaBiEtukX45BXFTHx8zqBYQxbrQ4YA7kg3XuKVaqNYR0L7OLoNknZbB69l5P9qhzAMwFqKj4-Z0vDMJe-zpsChWqu5NluzJRNQTYN4nS90UXOXNUwhVvf49e/s400/153_dough.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">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.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ykTNOH1nvuZnfpHYRjf8HZ3qrkT2OdqAHlu58Aay83029srk52ik00j7G0B15AWCU-vqkV9BdlPQh8mjgVwJjk9anSS3Rpcfvq1v_ijH0k5V0tZ4GpCKxgdVY6wjjOp3OsVfL2EU1TNZ/s1600/153_bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: right; color: #444444; float: right; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ykTNOH1nvuZnfpHYRjf8HZ3qrkT2OdqAHlu58Aay83029srk52ik00j7G0B15AWCU-vqkV9BdlPQh8mjgVwJjk9anSS3Rpcfvq1v_ijH0k5V0tZ4GpCKxgdVY6wjjOp3OsVfL2EU1TNZ/s1600/153_bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ykTNOH1nvuZnfpHYRjf8HZ3qrkT2OdqAHlu58Aay83029srk52ik00j7G0B15AWCU-vqkV9BdlPQh8mjgVwJjk9anSS3Rpcfvq1v_ijH0k5V0tZ4GpCKxgdVY6wjjOp3OsVfL2EU1TNZ/s400/153_bar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">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!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">01622 671878</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-26014227946573517952017-02-17T08:40:00.003+00:002017-02-17T08:41:32.340+00:00383 Maidstone Households Occupied by OAP Renters <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2W-haFUTNLDxtdxNOFp95Oo23Pl__6IFLC0Cr6VKfZUBjUV8xCcq95vCMK2zSFgjPNOd0rjX2cecIcDoBsHTrSWuzs16Exy486_1-H4hr1O_N3Y0zCPuB9JAQqvfKOAadFR2gNy11yJVb/s1600/152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2W-haFUTNLDxtdxNOFp95Oo23Pl__6IFLC0Cr6VKfZUBjUV8xCcq95vCMK2zSFgjPNOd0rjX2cecIcDoBsHTrSWuzs16Exy486_1-H4hr1O_N3Y0zCPuB9JAQqvfKOAadFR2gNy11yJVb/s400/152.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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 (<i>interesting when
compared to the National Average of 18.7 years for males and 21.1 years for
females</i>). 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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UADl3-C17ANaKsPI2Wj8AFFwNmWNpG5wPdKQyWNGI3xlJWTJbObmO4OVwvV_rR5Jx6mGat6Mqx3apgVtCQo9YNzjWQC6BE7g76Z2a1LxFGAvbMug7vaoRHVeJ6rxtQEM_VEVqgciVaN2/s1600/152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UADl3-C17ANaKsPI2Wj8AFFwNmWNpG5wPdKQyWNGI3xlJWTJbObmO4OVwvV_rR5Jx6mGat6Mqx3apgVtCQo9YNzjWQC6BE7g76Z2a1LxFGAvbMug7vaoRHVeJ6rxtQEM_VEVqgciVaN2/s640/152.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">01622 671878</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-64233684328493151012017-02-03T15:00:00.000+00:002017-02-10T10:45:40.277+00:00Maidstone Unemployment Drops to 3.8% and its effect on the Maidstone Property Market<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHliZ8dVcUxTuOe7ytxCNV0lQOSCbQE5QI3XO7u7Ej6vR9W9MPjOf9SZQYXkgsVngwmHhbPJwUr67b55j_7WOql7tvI-sBeuEYFGawzRGNh5-ne9mmWEWkaL6TKxKpauTIJV6zeh2Qin8/s1600/151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHliZ8dVcUxTuOe7ytxCNV0lQOSCbQE5QI3XO7u7Ej6vR9W9MPjOf9SZQYXkgsVngwmHhbPJwUr67b55j_7WOql7tvI-sBeuEYFGawzRGNh5-ne9mmWEWkaL6TKxKpauTIJV6zeh2Qin8/s400/151.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was late May 2016, The </span><span class="s1" style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Right Hon</span><span class="s2" style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span><span class="s1" style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Member for Tatton</span><span class="s2" style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, Mr George Osborne, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Doom
and Gloom then? Well, let me consider the other side of the coin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
Maidstone housing market <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>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. <span style="background: aqua; mso-highlight: aqua;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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%! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwKPbGDXZPzeaw7dR98V4OLIs_5DvSaG7ZHj6zMIf4h7UHot60b4modB54O55vmolBf_pn96NdSEdf5WvBI74-bi_Pd46rfy6Bs5aibI8DtP_MvQuud4LLTKOtAVc7snArC5mOeyVHP-y/s1600/151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwKPbGDXZPzeaw7dR98V4OLIs_5DvSaG7ZHj6zMIf4h7UHot60b4modB54O55vmolBf_pn96NdSEdf5WvBI74-bi_Pd46rfy6Bs5aibI8DtP_MvQuud4LLTKOtAVc7snArC5mOeyVHP-y/s400/151.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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!<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Email me on </span><span style="background-color: white;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</span><span style="background-color: white;"> or call on </span><span style="background-color: white;">01622 671878</span><span style="background-color: white;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><span style="background-color: white;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</span><span style="background-color: white;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-81934610058213726102017-01-27T13:51:00.002+00:002017-01-27T14:01:05.242+00:00£13.08bn – The total value of all Maidstone Property Market<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXETO31386XPzHDKOvZFBSAisTZLisjXvgKyj-uCvfEtiGPQY6ymVc92PXJw2VfBg-bB4fBLE72A6rawbG3bIvHGt4qLcx4dBvum3wbyyyzD0Sa5OKDvt6urCgKoeQhpCr7Myhpx1ntQM/s1600/150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXETO31386XPzHDKOvZFBSAisTZLisjXvgKyj-uCvfEtiGPQY6ymVc92PXJw2VfBg-bB4fBLE72A6rawbG3bIvHGt4qLcx4dBvum3wbyyyzD0Sa5OKDvt6urCgKoeQhpCr7Myhpx1ntQM/s640/150.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>“How
much would it cost to buy all the properties in Maidstone?”</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This fascinating question was posed by the 11-year-old son of
one of my Maidstone landlords when they both popped into my offices before the Christmas
break (doesn’t that seem an age away now!). I thought to myself, that over the
Christmas break, I would sit down and calculate what the total value of all the
properties in Maidstone are worth … and just for fun, work out how much they
have gone up in value since his son was born back in the a<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>utumn
of 2005.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the last 11 years, since the autumn of 2005, the total value of
Maidstone property has increased by 47% or £4.18 billion to a total of £13.08
billion. Interesting, when you consider the FTSE100 has only risen by 30.78%
and inflation (i.e. the UK Retail Price Index) rose by 37% during the same 11
years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I delved deeper into the numbers, the average price
currently being paid by Maidstone households stands at £285,727.… but you know
me, I wasn’t going to stop there, so I split the property market down into
individual property types in Maidstone; the average numbers come out like this
..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 512px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 19.7pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td colspan="4" nowrap="" style="background: #D9D9D9; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 19.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: black 1.0pt; mso-border-style-alt: solid; mso-border-top-alt: windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 384.0pt;" width="512"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Maidstone Property
Market<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 49.45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 49.45pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Average Value of a
Detached Property<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 49.45pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Average Value of a
Semi-Detached Property<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 49.45pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Average Value of a
Terraced/Town House Property<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 49.45pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Average Value of an
Apartment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 40.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 40.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£483,115<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 40.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£309,453<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 40.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£246,513<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 40.85pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 96.0pt;" width="128"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£158,976<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">... yet it got even more fascinating when I multiplied the total
number of each type of property by the average value. Even though detached houses
are so expensive, when you compare them with the much cheaper semi-detached
houses, you can see detached properties are not a match in terms of total pound
note value of the semi-detached houses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 517px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 58.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Value of all
the Maidstone Detached Properties<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Value of all
the Maidstone Semi-Detached Properties<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Value of all
the Maidstone Terraced/Town House Properties<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Value of all
the Maidstone Apartments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 58.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£4,211,313,455<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£4,605,898,452<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£2,910,085,965<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 58.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 97.0pt;" width="129"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">£1,357,655,040<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, what
does this all mean for Maidstone? Well
as we enter the unchartered waters of 2017 and beyond, even though property
values are already declining in certain parts of the previously over cooked
Central London property market, the outlook in Maidstone remains relatively
good as over the last five years, the local property market was a lot more
sensible than central London’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Maidstone house
values will remain resilient for several reasons. Firstly, demand for rental
property remains strong with continued immigration and population
growth. Secondly, with 0.25 per cent interest
rates, borrowing has never been so cheap and finally the simple lack of new
house building in Maidstone not keeping up with current demand, let alone
eating into years and years of under investment – means only one thing – yes it
might be a bumpy ride over the next 12 to 24 months but, in the medium term,
property ownership and property investment in Maidstone has always, and will
always, ride out the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In
the coming weeks, I will look in greater detail at my thoughts for the 2017 Maidstone
Property Market. As always, all my articles can be found at the Maidstone
Property Market Blog.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Email me on </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> or call on </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">01622 671878</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-80187690140150360042017-01-20T11:15:00.000+00:002017-01-20T11:15:27.591+00:00£54m a year black hole in the Maidstone Property Market - Is Buy to Let Immoral? (Part 2) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1C2mRdvlNiZV6y7-ZN_9oE1GMLUy6OvlqMfOinzVqIomhyphenhyphenqGNzlejWFoxwUSUDOnIgV26vtfYWJnqcgvuLmHR6hJej2vnNyYWaGNkkLAZHUX81FuThucMPnTiJW-Z_7z79w-chO5eVL3/s1600/149_main+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1C2mRdvlNiZV6y7-ZN_9oE1GMLUy6OvlqMfOinzVqIomhyphenhyphenqGNzlejWFoxwUSUDOnIgV26vtfYWJnqcgvuLmHR6hJej2vnNyYWaGNkkLAZHUX81FuThucMPnTiJW-Z_7z79w-chO5eVL3/s400/149_main+image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An Englishman’s Home is
His Castle as Maggie Thatcher lauded - everyone should own their own<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> home. In 1971, around 50% of people owned their own home
and, as the baby-boomers got better jobs and pay, that proportion of homeowners
rose to 69% by 2001. Homeownership was here to stay as many baby boomers
assumed it’s very much a cultural thing here in Britain to own your own home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But on the back of TV
programmes like Homes Under the Hammer, these same baby boomers started to jump
on the band wagon of Maidstone buy to let properties as an investment. Maidstone
first time buyers were in competition with Maidstone landlords to buy these
smaller starter homes … pushing house prices up in the 2000’s <i>(as mentioned in Part One)</i> beyond the
reach of first time buyers. Alas, it is not as simple as that. Many factors
come into play, such as economics, the banks and government policy. But are Maidstone
landlords fanning the flames of the Maidstone housing crisis bonfire?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I believe that the landlords
of the 7,008 Maidstone rental properties are not exploitive and are in fact,
making many positive contributions to Maidstone and the people of Maidstone.
Like I have said before, Maidstone (and the rest of the UK) isn’t building
enough properties to keep up the demand; with high birth rate, job mobility,
growing population and longer life expectancy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to the Barker
Review, for the UK to standstill and meet current demand, the country needs to
be building 8.7 new households each and every year for every 1,000 households
already built. Nationally, we are currently running at 5.07 per thousand and in
the early part of this decade were running at 4.1 to 4.3 per thousand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvDny10ifHLn4_VHPTP_ov0Hcf3_9b7S6TLcw2bF9GBddbdE_iiZpwjiPEMmfbuaFM5euhIpoknu52rkEgw8Z1-dpWahhsk_Sj_H_KUy3euX_QGgxrJxdqYYd_aWju9Z9gaC-lyrB9bZL/s1600/149+graphic+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvDny10ifHLn4_VHPTP_ov0Hcf3_9b7S6TLcw2bF9GBddbdE_iiZpwjiPEMmfbuaFM5euhIpoknu52rkEgw8Z1-dpWahhsk_Sj_H_KUy3euX_QGgxrJxdqYYd_aWju9Z9gaC-lyrB9bZL/s400/149+graphic+4.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It doesn’t sound a lot of
difference, so let us look at what this means for Maidstone …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For Maidstone to meet its
obligation on the building of new homes, Maidstone would need to build 384
households each year. Yet, we are missing that figure by around 160 households
a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the Government to buy
the land and build those additional 160 households, it would need to spend £54,135,136
a year in Maidstone alone. Add up all the additional households required over
the whole of the UK and the Government would need to spend £23.31bn <u>each
year</u> … the Country hasn’t got that sort of money!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With these problems, it is
the property developers who are buying the old run-down houses and office
blocks which are deemed uninhabitable by the local authority, and turning them
into new attractive homes to either be rented privately to Maidstone families
or Maidstone people who need council housing because the local authority hasn’t
got enough properties to go around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The bottom line is that, as
the population grows, there aren’t enough properties being built for everyone
to have a roof over their head. Rogue landlords need to be put out of business,
whilst tenants should expect a more regulated rental market, with greater
security for tenants, where they can rely on good landlords providing them high
standards from their safe and modernised home. As in Europe, where most people
rent rather than buy, it doesn’t matter who owns the house – all people want is
a clean, decent roof over their head at a reasonable rent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBiW8oG41msvBYyGXR0QsYhhARqnjdkAZS9-Y5blAsm2EjHW62prAxSIv2PQifdR2hmCAVKa2ZLoih1-stICUqN_1bYEi4mgPLW_0RSVLn6MbPT4PZI6_iYhloKgz2z2BG1y4rM07uc4c/s1600/149+graphic+3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBiW8oG41msvBYyGXR0QsYhhARqnjdkAZS9-Y5blAsm2EjHW62prAxSIv2PQifdR2hmCAVKa2ZLoih1-stICUqN_1bYEi4mgPLW_0RSVLn6MbPT4PZI6_iYhloKgz2z2BG1y4rM07uc4c/s320/149+graphic+3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So only you, the reader,
can decide if buy to let is immoral, but first let me ask this question - if
the private buy to let landlords had not taken up the slack and provided a roof
over these people’s heads over the last decade .. where would these tenants be
living now? ….. because the alternative doesn’t even bear thinking about!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Email me on </span><b style="background-color: white;">claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b><span style="background-color: white;"> or call on </span><b style="background-color: white;">01622 671878</b><span style="background-color: white;">. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on </span><b style="background-color: white;">53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</b><span style="background-color: white;">. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">LinkedIn, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Blog, </span><a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Facebook, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Website, </span><a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520325044269941982.post-1667400906254603942017-01-13T15:00:00.001+00:002017-01-13T15:37:54.436+00:00Maidstone’s private renting set to hit 9,881 households by 2021 - Is Buy to Let immoral? (Part 1) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rfCvaMsumti73xctAGjnXIt2aiMUnb77fcdgKzd0GFvzutWkLLjUhBoVtgcY3DzHn-l2ZQwRqsv9A9SgUGMXd_wtRhK7WwW8FYudIDKVvne4R_PgZSUUKylTlDUHFXJBZtfP9Z_pE1T8/s1600/148_part1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rfCvaMsumti73xctAGjnXIt2aiMUnb77fcdgKzd0GFvzutWkLLjUhBoVtgcY3DzHn-l2ZQwRqsv9A9SgUGMXd_wtRhK7WwW8FYudIDKVvne4R_PgZSUUKylTlDUHFXJBZtfP9Z_pE1T8/s400/148_part1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can we blame the 55 to 70-year-old
Maidstone citizens for the current housing crisis in the town? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also known as the ‘Baby
Boomer Generation’, these Maidstone people were born after the end of the
Second World War as the country saw a massive rise in births as they slowly
recovered from the economic hardships experienced during wartime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Throughout the 1970’s and
1980’s, they experienced (whilst in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s) an unparalleled
level of economic growth and prosperity throughout their working lifetime on
the back of improved education, government subsidies, escalating property
prices and technological developments, they have emerged as a successful and prosperous
generation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...Yet some have
suggested these Maidstone baby boomers have (and are) making too much
money to the detriment of their children, creating a ‘generational economic
imbalance’, where mature people benefit from house-price growth while their children
are forced either to pay massive rents or pay large mortgages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Between 2001 and today, average earnings rose
by 65%, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>but average Maidstone house prices rose by 133%</b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The issue of housing is particularly
acute with the generation called the Millennials, who are young people born
between the mid 1980’s and the late 1990’s. These 18 to 30 years, moulded by
the computer and internet revolution, are finding as they enter early adult
life, very hard to buy a property, as these ‘greedy’ landlords are buying up
all the property to rent out back to them at exorbitant rents ... it’s no wonder these Millennials are lashing out at buy to
let landlords, as they are seen as the greedy, immoral, wicked people who are
cashing in on a social despair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBk7q2ZMmGYQEN_Uk93meqZEp6eTy41ck73tLe9uu6FzmBY-YUvRS5oPw8BpPdY_38QxfVswezznViAKunESSTgTY-A34S8DRb2qBW-3TVKPkdif_pNSrorrCkliu9jiTAhsyk9eFI9y_/s1600/148_part1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBk7q2ZMmGYQEN_Uk93meqZEp6eTy41ck73tLe9uu6FzmBY-YUvRS5oPw8BpPdY_38QxfVswezznViAKunESSTgTY-A34S8DRb2qBW-3TVKPkdif_pNSrorrCkliu9jiTAhsyk9eFI9y_/s640/148_part1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like all things in life,
we must look to the past, to appreciate where we are now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The three biggest
influencing factors on the Maidstone (and UK) property market in the later half
of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century were, firstly, the mass building of Council
Housing in the 1950’s and 60’s. Secondly, for the Tory’s to sell most of those
Council Houses off in the 1980’s and finally 15% interest rates in the early
1990’s which resulted in many houses being repossessed. It was these major factors
that underpinned the housing crisis we have today in Maidstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To start with, in 1995 the USA relaxed its lending rules by rewriting the
Community Reinvestment Act. This Act saw
a relaxation on the Bank’s lending criteria’s as there was pressure on these banks to lend on mortgages in low
wage neighbourhoods, as the viewpoint
in the USA was that anyone (even someone on the minimum wage) any working class
person should be able to buy a home. Unsurprisingly, the UK followed suit in the
early 2000’s, as Banks and Building Society’s relaxed their lending criteria
and brought to the market 100% mortgages, even Northern Rock started lending
every man and his dog 125% mortgages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwsOkJyzsFfQcn4aJnLHQUt75_8s8oLdqvFEDfcagdDA0DD0V3TljmiWAqgmp_Tvq4lLkcKlTU7TuEa3UEvwYu7Y6A01Vw6je5k-ZLJwvxHwB6XYFDO0LTTVVgbo3WzFqvaUDB-9Kd0gG/s1600/148+graphic+1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwsOkJyzsFfQcn4aJnLHQUt75_8s8oLdqvFEDfcagdDA0DD0V3TljmiWAqgmp_Tvq4lLkcKlTU7TuEa3UEvwYu7Y6A01Vw6je5k-ZLJwvxHwB6XYFDO0LTTVVgbo3WzFqvaUDB-9Kd0gG/s400/148+graphic+1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when we roll the clock
forward to today, and we can observe those very same footloose banks from the
early/mid 2000’s (</span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">that lent 125% with a
just note from your Mum and a couple of breakfast cereal tokens)</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">,
ironically reciting the Bank of England backed hymn-sheet of
responsible-lending. On every first time buyer mortgage application, they are
now looking at every line on the 20-something’s banks statements, asking if
they are spending too much on socialising and holidays ... no wonder these Millennials
are afraid to ask for a mortgage (as more often than not after all that – the
answer is negative).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conversely, you have unregulated
Buy To Let mortgages. As long as you have a 25% deposit, have a pulse, pass a
few very basic yardsticks and have a reasonable job, the banks will literally
throw money at you ... I mean Virgin Money are offering 2.99% fixed for 3 years
– so cheap!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, in Part Two next week, I will continue this emotive article and show
you some very interesting findings on why young people aren’t buying property
anymore (and it’s not what you think!).<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Email me on <b>claire.harvey@seekersmaidstone.co.uk</b> or call on <b>01622 671878</b>. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on <b>53 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1SY</b>. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.<br /><br />Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Maidstone Property News.<br /><br />LinkedIn, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent">www.linkedin.com/in/claireharveyestateagent</a><br />Blog, <a href="http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/">http://maidstonepropertyblog.blogspot.com/</a><br />Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK">https://www.facebook.com/SeekersHomesUK</a><br />Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/seekershomes">https://twitter.com/seekershomes</a><br />Website, <a href="http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/">http://www.seekershomes.co.uk/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0