What will the General Election result do to the Chelmsford property market?

After the shock of the Conservatives returning to power with a majority at Westminster, all the potential issues and possible uncertainties of a hung parliament has lifted the cloud from the Chelmsford property market.  Talking to other Chelmsford agents, surveyors and solicitors in the area over the last few days, there are signs this has started a new impetus in the Chelmsford property market after a subdued six months, when an amalgamation of tougher lending conditions, a natural correction after the strong recovery in Chelmsford property prices in 2014, and political uncertainty ahead of the General Election slowed demand.

Against the back drop of Labour’s election promises of rent controls and three year tenancies, some Chelmsford buy to let landlords were waiting to see how these new policies would be implemented before they committed themselves to buying more property for their buy to let portfolio. Now that uncertainty has been removed, the long term picture is very positive.

So, with all that uncertainty now removed, where next for the Chelmsford property market?  Well with inflation at zero and with the Money markets happy David Cameron is still at No.10, the Bank of England have no reason to raise interest rates until 2016 at the earliest. As mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since 2010, landlords with large deposits will now be wooed by the mortgage companies in the coming months with low rates.

You see over the past couple of years, Chelmsford landlords have benefitted from a booming Chelmsford job market. Unemployment in Chelmsford area has dropped to an amazing 2%, compared to a year ago, unemployment in Chelmsford stood at 4.9%. With more jobs and better pay, as the level of rents is directly linked to tenant’s wages, there has been an increase in the rental prices tenants are willing to pay for good quality Chelmsford properties.

Some landlords might be nervous about Tory’s plans for the housing market over the next five years in terms of tenant demand for their rental properties. One plan is for Housing Association tenants to have the right to buy their property. These kinds of tenant were never in the private rented sector and will actually increase the supply of properties in the housing stock in decades to come. The Government ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ has only helped to buy 94 Chelmsford properties since April 2013. Considering 1054 properties have changed hands in the last year alone in the Chelmsford area, I don’t think it has made a huge difference to our local property market.

The biggest matter, when it comes to tenant demand of rental property going forward, comes from the shift in the mindset and attitudes towards renting itself. Twenty years ago you were seen as a second class citizen if you rented a property. Nowadays it is considered the norm. In Chelmsford, as in the rest of the UK (apart from Central London), renting continues to offer good value for money for tenants and therefore will continue to grow in this decade, meaning everyone is a winner.

For more news and views on the Chelmsford property market... visit the Chelmsford Property Blog www.chelmsfordpropertyblog.co.uk.

Is this chelmsford apartment too good to be true?

Good morning, on my routine Rightmove trawling, I spotted this little gem. To me it seems a bit too good to be true. It's a 2 bedroom apartment on 'The Village', located just of Writtle Road. Superb area for buy to let as the properties always Let really quickly on this estate. 

From looking at the photos, it looks as though it needs a little TLC, this could be why the price is so competitive. Balch have put it on the market for £144,950.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49353412.html

Having had a look at other properties on the development, the average price seems to be sitting around £155,000 - £160,000. You could buy it, spend a couple of grand on it to make it look shiny again and end up with instant capital growth!

IT also stacks up really well on the rental yield front as well. Similar properties to this rent easily on the development for around £750 pcm. So you could be looking at a potential annual return of 6.2%, this is of course not taking into account any service charges or ground rent that may be due. You should always look into this before jumping into any investment. 

If you would like to pick my brain about buy to let in Chelmsford, please do pop in to see me, my office is located on Duke Street, in Estate Agent row!

Chelmsford City Centre apartment, primed for BTL...

 

Now, this property is ideal if you are looking for a city centre apartment for investment purposes. A little bit more outlay compared to the others I have posted out this week, being on the market for £225,000, but it is the right price, we have just sold a similar property in one of the nearby blocks for this price. 

With a higher purchase price, you usually do get higher rental prices though, so it is all relative. This type of property would rent in the region of £900 pcm. Therefore you are looking at a potential annual yield of 4.8%, which for a Chelmsford city centre property is about the going rate.

It's located on Primrose Hill, within easy reach of the train station, so this one will appeal to that all important London Professional market, as long as it is presented well, which this one seems to be and is clean, you should have no issues in renting it out.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34565100.html?premiumA=true

If you decide this one isn't for you, but would like any advice on where you should (or shouldn't) be buying your buy to let property, come and see me for a cuppa and a chat

Rents paid by tenants In Chelmsford are on the rise…

As we are a quarter of the way through 2015, I was talking to a landlord from Great Waltham the other day about what is happening to the level of rents that are being achieved in the Chelmsford property market.

In terms of rents in Chelmsford, it appears that rents being achieved for new rentals (i.e. when the tenant moves out and new tenant moves in) have risen by 14% in the last 12 months. However, landlords with existing tenants, are generally not increasing their rents in line with this rate, as most landlords prefer to keep their existing tenant paying the same rent and have the peace of mind that their tenant remains thus reducing the risk of a void period.

It must be remembered rents nationally dropped by 7.8% over 2008/9, due to oversupply in the rental market in 2009.) A lot of the people who couldn’t sell their property in Chelmsford in 2008/9 when the Credit Crunch hit in 2008, decided to let their house out instead of selling at a loss. In fact, the number of houses on the market in Chelmsford dropped by 30% between March 2008 and March 2010, a lot of which came on to the rental market in Chelmsford. However, looking at the longer term though, tenants have had it good  because since the turn of the Millennium, average wages have grown by 46%, but rents outside London have only grown by 36% rental growth over this period.

I told the landlord that there is a lack of new rental properties in Chelmsford coming on the market, in fact according to Rightmove, there is an average of 85 new rental properties are coming to the market each month in Chelmsford, but when we have registered on average 235 potential tenants each month since January, something will have to give soon! This is compounded by the fact a number of landlords are looking to sell their rental properties in the coming months, as the property market in Chelmsford has improved. This further compounded as tenants in existing rental properties appear to be staying in properties for longer periods of time.

Even though rents have kept pace with inflation in the past, renting as an option has become more affordable, and is increasingly seen as a lifestyle choice. With returning economic growth and expected increases in the rate of growth of wages, above inflation rental growth could rise.

If you want a chat about the local Chelmsford property market, pop in for a coffee to our office in Duke Street.

1 Bed Apartment in Great Baddow for buy to let...

I hope everyones' week is going OK so far. 

For those of you who are looking for a great buy to let property, look no further!...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34517517.html

This 1 bedroom apartment is presented very nicely, with a modern kitchen and bathroom, o there's not much that you would need to do to it to get it 'letting ready'. It's priced at £140,000, which is a realistic rice, looking at what they have been going for in the area. The 1 bed apartments in this area rent in the region of £675 pcm, so you could be looking at an annual return of 5.7%

Now being realistic, this property is a bit further out of Chelmsford City centre, so it's not going to be for your high flying, city commuters, but they are not the only people looking to rent in Chelmsford, there is a wide range of tenants looking. This property would probably appeal to a more mature person, looking to get out of the hustle and bustle of city living. 

Quality properties like this are getting snapped up incredibly quickly, it's not just sales talk! IF you are interested, you need to get a wriggle on!