Chelmsford "Eye Candy Property Of The Week"

"Eye Candy Property of the Week" on Rightmove this week I have chosen a property in Writtle.
                                     

       

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41478906.html

Have a good weekend and look forward to next week's "Eye Candy Property of the week"

Don't miss out on this property in Chelmsford, it has great Chelmsford....

Don't let this property pass you by. It has great potential, located in Springfield, Chelmsford. The possible yield on this one is definitiely worth taking serious...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59016188.html

17,679 Spare ‘Spare’ Bedrooms in Chelmsford – Is this the cause of the Chelmsford Housing Crisis?

That isn’t a typo, of the 46,220 households in Chelmsford, 17,679 of those properties don’t only have one spare bedroom, but two spare bedrooms! … and it is this topic I want to talk about this week, my Chelmsford Property Market Blog readers – because this could be the cure for Chelmsford’s housing crisis.  The fundamental problem of the Chelmsford housing ‘crisis’, is the fact that the supply of homes to live in has not historically met demand, increasing property values (and in turn rents), thus ensuring home ownership becomes an unattainable ambition for the twenty something’s of Chelmsford.

Call me a realist, but it’s obvious that either demand needs to drop or supply needs to rise to stop this trend getting worse for the generations to come.  Don’t get me wrong, I admire Downing Street’s plans to build 200,000 starter homes which will be offered to first time buyers under 40 with a minimum 20% discount price.  However, the building of starter homes on current building sites, where new homes builders already have to build a certain number of affordable ‘starter’ homes at the moment under a different scheme, does not increase the stock of new ‘starter’ homes, it simply replaces one affordable scheme with another.

One option that could resolve the housing crisis is if the Government literally looked closer to home, concentrating on matching households with the appropriate sized home.

In Chelmsford, 33,178 households have one spare bedroom and of these, 17,679 have two or more spare bedrooms.

This compares to 1,408 households in Chelmsford that are overcrowded (i.e. there are more people than bedrooms in the property).

Looking specifically at the homeowners of Chelmsford, 11,424 owner occupied Chelmsford houses have one spare bedroom.  Now having a spare bedroom is not considered a luxury.  However, in addition to those 11,424 households with one spare bedroom, there are on top, a further 16,199 owner occupied Chelmsford households with two or more spare bedrooms.  

Therefore, I am beginning to see there is the spare capacity in the Chelmsford housing market.  Principally, I will concentrate on the group that makes up the bulk of this category, the owner occupiers of large properties, in their 60’s and 70’s, where the kids flew the nest back in the 80’s and 90’s.  They call it ‘downsizing’, when you sell a big property, where the extra bedrooms are no longer required, to move into a smaller and, usually, less expensive property.

However, there are many explanations why these individuals do not downsize.   These people have lived in the same house for 30, 40 even 50 years, and as one matures in life, many people do not want to depart from what they see as the family home.  Much time has been invested in making friends in the area and it’s nice to have all those rooms in case every grandchild decided to visit, at the same time, and they brought their friends!  But on a more serious note, more and more people are beginning to downsize earlier, but in my opinion, not at a fast enough rate.  As the years go one, we will have a situation where younger families will be living in smaller and smaller houses, whilst all the large houses with a couple of 70 something empty-nesters rattling around them!  I believe the Government should put more weight behind downsizing, because with the right incentives, many could be encouraged to think again and make the spare rooms available.

.. and it would have to be incentives, as the using the stick (instead of the carrot) would be political suicide for any party, especially the Tory’s.  One option is to allow retired downsizers not to pay stamp duty on the new property, saving them thousands of pounds and another for the planners to work with builders to build not only starter homes for under 40’s, but also have housing built just for retired downsizers ... or is this one step too far in ‘social engineering’?

The fact is not enough properties are being built in Chelmsford, and with population rising at a faster rate, something needs to be done.  However, I believe the Chelmsford population (and in fact the whole of the UK) is slowly turning into a more European model of house ownership.  In Europe, most people rent in their 20’s and 30’s, only buying in their 40’s and 50’s, when they inherit money from the sale of their late parent’s property.   That works particularly well in Germany and I can’t see why it can’t work here.  In the meantime, there is an opportunity in the coming 20 years for people to supplement their pension by buying smaller properties to rent out, as that is where the demand will be in the next few decades in Chelmsford.  For even more thoughts on the Chelmsford Property Market – visit the Chelmsford Property Blog www.chelmsfordpropertyblog.com 

Chelmsford 3 bed with great buy to let potential...

Hi everyone, have little look at the details of this 3 bed house that I've picked up on in Chelmer Village, Chelmsford. All the facts and figures are in the video

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59101025.html

Martin & Co Chelmsford goes Nuclear with support for Philippine storm victims

On 14 May, the Chelmsford branch of Martin & Co will be taking part in The Nuclear Rush endurance race in Brentwood to raise money for a school on the Philippine island of Malapascua. All ten members of the team will be testing themselves over 12 kilometres and 80 obstacles in a bid to raise £1,000. Their fundraising efforts will contribute towards the larger, total goal of £81,000, enough to cover the cost of three classrooms on the island, which is still recovering from the devastating Typhoon Yolanda in October 2013.
The 12 kilometre challenge takes place on the Secret Bunker Estate in Essex, and will incorporate five-foot deep waterlogged bogs, sloping muddy terrain and a range of bruising man-made obstacles that include zip-lines, balancing beams, climbing walls and the world’s longest set of monkey-bars.
Malapascua Island is a popular diving resort in the Philippines that was devastated by Typhoon Yolanda in October 2013. Last year, friends of those at the Chelmsford based branch, raised over £2,500 for the children on the island. Inspired by their story, Stephen Frost, a director in the Martin & Co Chelmsford branch, contacted local victims, who told him of the urgent need for classrooms in the region - currently there are 90 children to a classroom – and Stephen set his mind to other fundraising activities.
The Nuclear Rush is just one of a number of events that Stephen and his team plan to take part in as they look to raise £81,000.

Stephen Frost, a director in the Martin & Co Chelmsford branch, comments: “We were really moved when we heard what our friends had done for the children on Malapascua Island and we wanted to join in and do our part for a very worthwhile cause. None of the team is particularly fit, but no matter what the course may throw at us, we will be starting and finishing it together, which we hope will instil a sense of comradery amongst the team too!”

If you want to support the team you can do so on their GoFundme Page https://www.gofundme.com/macchelmsford or click on the image below.

Chelmsford, Springfield 2 bed apartment with amazing potential...

Good morning everyone, bit of a soggy one today, but the deals have still got to be found! Todays one is a 2 bed flat in Springfield, with great potential, see what you think...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41441322.html

Chelmsford "Eye Candy Property Of The Week"

"Eye Candy Property of the Week" on Rightmove this week I have chosen a property in Moulsham Street.
                                     

         

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52691167.html

Have a good weekend and look forward to next weeks Eye Candy Property of the week.

Great potential with this house in Springfield, Chelmsford...

Well, we are at the end of another week and I have my final buy to let 'deal of the day' for you. This is a 3 bed house in Springfield, just come to market with The Home Partnership. Have a click on the video to hear about the potential...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58935626.html

 

Only 1,144 Council Houses in Chelmsford left – opportunity or problem?

The ‘Right to Buy’ scheme was a policy introduced by Maggie Thatcher in 1980 which gave secure council tenants the legal right to buy the Council home they were living in with huge discounts. The heyday of Council ‘Right To Buys’ was in the 80’s and 90’s, when 1,719,368 homes in the country were sold in this manner between October 1980 and April 1998. However, in 1997, Tony Blair reduced the discount available to tenants of council houses and the numbers of properties being bought under the Right to Buy declined.

So what does this mean for Chelmsford homeowners and landlords? Well quite a lot in fact!

Looking at the figures for our local authority, whilst the number of ‘Right to Buys’ have dwindled over the last few years to an average of only 148 ‘Right to Buy’ sales per year, one must look further back in time. Looking at the overall figures, 4,995 Council properties were bought by council tenants in the Chelmsford City Council area between 1980 and 1998. Big numbers by any measure and even more important to the whole Chelmsford property market (i.e. every Chelmsford homeowner, Chelmsford landlord and even Chelmsford aspiring first time buyers) when you consider these 4,995 properties make up a colossal 15.4% of all the privately owned properties in our area (because in local authority area, there are only 32,357 privately owned properties).

Chelmsford first time buyers and landlords can now buy these ex-council properties second hand (or the PC brigade like to call them ‘pre-loved ex–local authority dwellings’) as those original 80’s and 90’s tenants (now homeowners) have more than passed the time of any claw back of the discount they received (council discount was repayable if the first owner sold within a stipulated time period - usually 5 years).

Now let us all be honest, some (not all), but some ex-council properties lack the vital KSA that some landlords crave. The new homes builders know all about KSA (or Kerb-Side-Appeal) as they dress up the exteriors of their new homes to make them more appealing to buyers ... and if you don’t believe me ... why do Show homes exist? Going on the exterior looks of a modern property might be a theoretically good way of choosing a Chelmsford buy-to-let property, but in a challenging market, some Chelmsford investors are finding a more no-nonsense down to earth approach brings the largest returns.

Yes, the modern stuff being built in Chelmsford is lovely, but too many landlords purchase buy to let property solely based on where they would choose to live themselves, instead of choosing with a business head and choosing where a tenant would want to live ... because remember the first rule of buy to let property … you aren’t going to live the property yourself. What an ex-council property lack in terms of KSA, they more than make up for in other ways.  Tenants more worried about how close the property is to a particular school or family members for child care matter to them far more than the look of a property.

Whilst ex-council properties tend to increase in value at a slower rate than more modern properties, that is more than made up in the much higher yields – and those built between the wars or just after are really well built. Tenant demand for such properties is good since Chelmsford property values are so expensive, a lot of people can’t get mortgages to buy, so they will reconcile themselves to renting, meaning there is a good demand for that sort of property to rent. Also, the very fact the council were forced to sell these Chelmsford properties in the 80’s and 90’s, means that today’s younger generation who would have normally got a council house to live in themselves, now can’t as many were sold ten or twenty years ago.

So to Chelmsford landlords I say this … don’t dismiss ex-council houses and apartments – but remember the 1^st rule of buy to let (see above). However, those very same Chelmsford landlords should go in with their eyes open and take lots of advice. Not all ex-council properties are the same and even though they have good demand and high yields, they can also give you other headaches and issues when it comes to the running of the rental property. One source of advice is the Chelmsford Property Blog www.chelmsfordpropertyblog.co.uk  … that just leaves the 1,144 council houses still owned by the local authority to be sold to their tenants in the coming years! 

Cracking buy to let property in Chelmer Village, Chelmsford...

Good morning folks. I've picked a cracking 1 bed apartment in Chelmer Village for todays' Buy to Let, Deal of The Day, I've done a few calculations, which are revealed in the video below. Have a click on it and see what you think...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53834062.html

Todays' buy to let Deal of The Day in Chelmsford, see what you think...

Hi Everyone, have a sneak peek at todays Buy to Let deal of the day. I have picked a 3 bedroom house which I thought might be of interest to you. 
If you have any questions, please let me know

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44902996.html