He wanted to know my
thoughts particularly on the future of the Aylesbury property market. He was of
the opinion that the Buy To Let market was becoming saturated and that tenants
were going to be spoilt for choice. But people
are always going to need a roof over their heads and somewhere to live will
never go out of fashion – it’s a necessity for every single person. The 22 to
30 year olds of the town have a choice of what type of roof they have ... they
can rent from the Council, they can rent from a private landlord, they can live
with mum and dad or finally they can get a mortgage and buy a property. In the
1970’s/80’s and 90’s, the expected thing was to save like mad for two years for
the deposit (going without luxuries) whilst living at home or renting an inexpensive
two up two down, then buy your first house. However, more recently fewer Aylesbury
youngsters have been buying, choosing to rent instead – mainly from private
landlords (as Councils have been selling off council housing on the Right to
Buy Schemes). The numbers are truly staggering ... and I want to share them with
you.
Roll the clock back 20 years and Aylesbury was
a very different place. There were 23,261 households in Aylesbury and 15,581 of
those were owner occupied. Move to the present, and with all the building in
the town, the total number of households has increased by 24.1% to 28,877 and
quite surprising, the number of owner-occupiers has increased to 19,022
(although as a proportion, it is only 65.8% compared to 66.9% twenty years
ago).
However, it is the rented sector that is truly
fascinating … twenty years ago, only 1,064 properties were privately rented in Aylesbury
... and now its 4,701, a rise of 3,637.
The twentysomethings
of Aylesbury have not been helped by the local authority selling off council
housing, with the number of council houses dropping from 5,030 to 1,254 over
the same twenty-year period. Demand for good quality rented property remains
high, as Cameron’s much vaunted house building program is years away and has
decades of under investment to catch up on before it starts to affect demand.
Even with the Buy to Let tax rule changes over the coming few years (which will
see the maximum tax relief available to higher rate tax paying landlords drop
from 45% to 20%), private landlords still have an important role to play in
housing the people of Aylesbury and those who treat it as a business will
survive and prosper.
The best way Aylesbury landlords can protect
their income from property, (and mitigate the affects of the tax rises) is to
keep the homes they let out in good condition. I have found, especially over
the last three or four years, that Aylesbury tenants have ever growing demands
from their rental property, but many are prepared to pay ‘top dollar‘ for houses
and apartments that meet those high expectations. You must not forget, letting
property in Aylesbury (in fact anywhere) is a business, so all landlords should
seek the advice, opinion and commentary of property professionals. I have spoken
to several landlords recently persuaded to purchase property on the basis of
inflated rental figures or outlandish expectations of capital growth. Do your
research carefully, understand the location you are buying in and make sure
that what you buy suits your portfolio requirements.
When researching you could do worse than look for
more in-depth articles on the Aylesbury Property Market blog, which has a
library of similar articles to this. Alternatively you could give me a call
01296 398555, drop in to my Temple Street office or email me ian@mortimersaylesbury.co.uk
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| Just chilling in my favourite spot. |
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