With Rightmove announcing a national drop of 0.3% in average asking prices in August, some are asking if the steam has been let out of the property market. Yet with the gains we have seen in the last 12 months, is this just a minor bump in the road? Alarm bells normally ring when new homeowners coming to the market for the first time are having to lower their initial asking price when compared to the market as a whole.

So, what is actually happening in the national and local property market to asking prices and the number of properties for sale, and where does that leave Rotherham homeowners and Rotherham landlords?

1 in 7.4 homes already on the market today have reduced

their asking price in the last two weeks

That means new sellers bringing their property to the market for the first time, are having to curtail their initial asking price to remain competitive. Normally, this should ring alarm bells, particularly when this is the first time this has happened in 2021. Therefore, it’s vital to ‘look under the bonnet’ of the figures and see what, exactly, is happening locally.

Average asking prices for Rotherham homes

are 1% up compared to July

However, that figure hides some interesting anomalies – the average asking price of Rotherham semi-detached houses are 1% lower than in July (that doesn’t mean they have dropped in value by that much – just the headline asking prices) whilst apartments/flats have seen the average asking price rise by 6% in the last month.

So, if this is what is happening to Rotherham asking prices, what about the number of properties for sale. Looking nationally first…

there are currently just 285,970 properties for sale in the UK, which means 1 in 67 British homeowners are presently on the market – interesting when compared to 2005, it was 1 in 13.5 homeowners on the market.

With such little supply of properties for sale nationally, demand remains robust. Yet the property buyers in the market are being a little more reserved with the offers they are making compared to the Stamp Duty holiday frenzy times seen earlier in the year. They will pay handsomely, and yet top dollar won’t offer the ‘crazy price’ levels some Rotherham buyers were offering in the spring – hence the recent reduction in asking prices to a more realistic level.

Looking at the movement in the available properties for sale and to rent in Rotherham over the last few months, an interesting picture arises.

The number of Rotherham properties for sale (and rent) is still at record lows when compared to the 30-year long term average.

The choice for Rotherham tenants is limited as well, as many tenants aren’t moving home. With the additional increase in demand from 1 in 10 Rotherham homeowners choosing to go into rented accommodation (albeit temporarily) Rotherham landlords with exceptional properties are getting decent rents, as discussed in a recent article I wrote about the level of rents in Rotherham.

With the current level of Rotherham properties for sale being around 40% to 50% below the long-term average (depending on the type of Rotherham property you own), it means when a Rotherham property is properly priced, given the intense competition, often it comes down to the position of the buyer and not the price they are prepared to pay.

When I say, “position of the buyer”, I mean, do they have a chain, do they have to sell their own property to buy another property?

Many Rotherham house sellers are selling their home before they buy. Selling before you buy can be a fruitful approach in a fast-moving property market. That does mean your own purchaser will have to demonstrate a certain amount of patience whilst you wait for the right home to come on to the housing market.

However, because it is currently taking on average 19 weeks between sale agreed and exchange of contracts, with mortgage providers and solicitors taking their time due to the backlog, this often allows you to potentially play catch-up if it takes a couple weeks to find the right property for you.

Many home sellers are going even further by selling their Rotherham home first and then going into transitional rented accommodation. This subsequently puts them in pole position when their forever home comes up for sale as they have no chain. Although this takes a lot of determination and resilience, it does mean you will be in the very best position when the property of your dreams comes up.

The choice they say, as always, is yours!

If you would like a chat about the Rotherham property market and the best thing for you and your personal circumstances, do drop me a line. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the current Rotherham property market? Do share in the comments

Rotherham landlords are becoming progressively more self-assured about expanding their rental portfolios; as Rotherham rents rise, mortgage interest rates fall and demand for decent Rotherham rental properties outstrips supply.

A number of reports nationally would suggest around a third of UK ‘portfolio’ landlords (i.e. landlords with more than one rental property) are actively looking to expand their rental portfolios in the next 12 to 18 months, that would locally mean…

720 Rotherham ‘portfolio’ landlords are looking to add to

their rental portfolio by the end of 2022.

The pandemic has had a substantial change to what we want from a home. Many people think that relates just to homeowners, yet nothing could be further from the truth as it also applies to tenants.

Homeowner or tenant, many of us have spent a lot of time away from places of work. Many office workers face the outlook of the combination of working from home as well as at the office, meaning a change in what people look for in their home. People (including tenants) are looking for larger properties, with extra rooms for office space and decent sized gardens or to be closer to outside green space.

So, let’s look at the ‘scores on the doors’ as to why Rotherham landlords are on the up…

Rotherham house prices are 22.7% higher than 5 years ago.

Because some Rotherham first-time buyers are being priced out of the market due to these house price rises, they are being forced back into the rental market. Add the extra demand of the 1 in 10 Rotherham house sellers, who in the last 12 months have had to go into rented accommodation instead of buying, and this has created increased demand. Meaning…

Rents today in Rotherham are 6.1% higher than a year ago and 15.6% higher than 5 years ago.

The average rent of a Rotherham property today is £497 pcm.

In previous articles on the Rotherham property market, I was talking about the lack of properties to buy – yet that issue is also there in the British rental property market. Now let’s look at the supply of rental properties.

Would it surprise you that the number of private rented homes in the UK has fallen in the last 12 months by just over 2.5%?

Why? One reason has been many ‘accidental’ landlords have used this housing market to sell their property for a good price. That means the supply of available rental properties has decreased. The perfect storm of increased demand and lower supply, and with many Rotherham tenants competing for those larger Rotherham homes, they may find Rotherham rental prices pick up even more over the next year.

What about buy-to-let mortgages for Rotherham landlords?

The banks all but withdrew from buy-to-let lending in the first lockdown. Yet, since last summer, things have settled down and during 2021 there has been a mortgage price war.

Rotherham landlords can borrow 60% of the value of their BTL property on a two-year fixed rate of 1.18% from Platform and even those with a 20% deposit (that’s borrowing 80%) can borrow that money at 2.49% 2-year fixed rate from The Mortgage Works. Those looking to fix for a little longer can get 1.44% from The Mortgage Works and 1.79% at 75% loan to value from Santander.

(It must be noted there are some fees to these mortgages, and you must take advice from a qualified mortgage advisor before deciding which mortgage is best for you).

So, is now the best time to invest in Rotherham buy-to-let property?

If you are attracted to invest in Rotherham buy-to-let, it’s vital to do your homework first – particularly if you are new to the game.

When estimating the expected rental returns on investment, capital growth and yields, many Rotherham landlords look to what has happened with house prices and rental prices, yet past performance does not always deliver a future guaranteed return.

Smart Rotherham landlords will speak with agents like myself and others in Rotherham, prudently researching the Rotherham property market to discover what types of properties are in high demand (and short supply) from tenants.

Whether you are a landlord of ours or not, please feel free to drop me a line via email or social media for no nonsense advice on the important matters to look out for before investing in Rotherham buy-to-let.

Would it surprise you even more when I said the ratio of house prices to wages are still lower today when compared to 1871?  Yes, you read that correctly, as a proportion of average wages British house prices are 17.6% proportionally cheaper today than they were in 1871.

I wish to talk about the last 150 years of the British property market and later in the article, the Rotherham property market. I will also touch on why before the 1900s, buying a home in Rotherham was considerably more expensive than today and why that changed.

So, let’s look at some interesting stats to get us started:

• In 1871, each house was occupied by an average of 5.33 people (i.e. for every 100 houses, 533 people lived in them), whilst today that stands at 2.39 people per house
• In 1871, there were 4.5 million properties in the UK, whilst today that stands at 27.9 million
• In 1871, the weekly average wage was 13s 8½d (68p) and today £585.50
• In 1871, only 20% of people owned their own home, whilst today its stands at 65%

I stated in the first part of the article it was more expensive to buy in the latter parts of the 19th Century than today. It may only be of historical interest, but back in 1871, the ratio of average house prices to average wages was 10.5 to 1 (i.e. the average house was worth ten and half times the average person’s wage), whilst today it stands at 8.8 to 1.

Interestingly, for the next 45 years, that ratio went on a downward trend relative to wages and only stopped falling after WW1, where the average house was worth only 2.2 times the average wage. This made houses more affordable and set the foundations for the homeowning passion we Brits have today.

So why did this happen, what can we learn from it and what does it mean for Rotherham homeowners and Rotherham landlords?

There are three significant drivers that made property a lot more affordable between 1871 and 1911: the Victorians built more property, made them smaller and people’s wages rose significantly.

• In the 40 years between 1871 and 1911, the number of properties in the UK rose from 4.5 million to 8.9 million. To give you some perspective, there were 18 million properties in the UK in 1981. If the UK had grown by the same rate between 1981 and today that was experienced between 1871 and 1911, there would be 35.6 million households in the UK (and not the 27.9 million mentioned above).

• In 1871, the average plot size of a property was 0.23 acres, yet by 1911, that was down to 0.06 acres (or a plot of 72ft by 40ft). This came about from building smaller types of property (e. a change away from larger Georgian detached houses towards the infamous rows of Victorian terraces), and a downshift in the average size of houses within each category.

• The average value of property dropped by 26% between 1871 and 1911, whilst wages rose by 85% over the same time frame.

So, by 1911, the average Rotherham property had dropped

in value from £198 in 1871 to £147.

N.B. – you might have noticed I wrote £198 in a slightly different way in the title of the article. Up to 1971, a pound was split not into 100 pence but 240 pence. There were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings (or 240 pence) in a pound. It was expressed in the form £sd and spoken as “pounds, shillings and pence”. I dropped that into the title as it’s the 50^th anniversary this year of when the UK decimalised its currency (younger readers – do google the story – it’s a fascinating topic).

So back to the property market, and at the end of WW1, four in five people still rented, virtually all from private landlords. Politicians were concerned about the poor living standards of people’s homes, and this led to the ‘homes fit for heroes’ 1919 Housing Act which delivered subsidies for local councils to build council houses. The average value of a Rotherham property in 1922 was £231.

The 1930s – By 1930, the average value of a Rotherham property stood at £292. With the country building a third of a million houses per annum, interest rates fixed at 2% and hardly any planning regulations, supply of property was outstripping demand, so the average Rotherham home dropped ever so slightly in value to £270 by 1938.

The 1940s – With the bombing of many towns and cities and housebuilding being stopped because of the war, this created a perfect storm to increase house prices after the war. By 1947, the average Rotherham home had risen in value to £904 because just as food was rationed during and after the war, so were building materials. Builders could spend no more than £350 on building materials for a new home (and that lasted until 1954).

The 1950s – The ’50s were all about building council houses – a quarter of a million of them each year. By 1959, the average Rotherham home had risen steadily to £1,254.

The 1960s – This decade saw even more houses being built in the UK, with an average of a third of a million houses a year being built. Rotherham is full of 1960’s council houses and now even more owner-occupied housing, meaning by the end of the decade Britain had as many homeowners as renters. The average Rotherham house had risen in value to £2,299 by 1969.

The 1970s – We experienced the first boom and bust housing bubble in the early 1970s with house prices rising by over 30% a year in the early years of the decade (so the current 10% a year is child’s play!) but prices dropped in 1974. They recovered quickly in the following years, not because of increased demand but due to hyperinflation, making the average Rotherham house price rise to £11,691 by 1980.

The 1980s – This was the decade of council tenants being able to buy their own homes, although not many people know it was an idea from Labour. They decided against the idea, but it was seized upon by the Tories, who made it the cornerstone of their 1979 election manifesto. The property market helped improve the economy, and by 1988, Rotherham property values increased to £24,454 (only to drop by 32% a couple of years later).

The 1990s – The housing market crash of the early 1990s was painful for all, exacerbated by mortgage interest rates being raised to 15% on Black Wednesday (16 September 1992) and left there for 12 months. Unemployment went from 1.5m to 3m for the second time in ten years, and many of those homeowners who had taken out large mortgages in the late 1980’s housing boom could no longer afford the repayments because of the high interest rates, meaning repossessions went through the roof. The crash also made builders nervous, and they only built 150,000 houses on average a year in this decade. Yet, by the mid-1990s, things started to improve. So much so, the average Rotherham home was worth £45,841 by the turn of the millennium.

The 2000s – The decade of cheap mortgages and the rise of Buy-to-Let, together with a severe drop in the number of new homes being built, contributed to the UK’s third big housing bubble since WW2. The average Rotherham house price more than doubled to £122,758 by 2008, before the Credit Crunch brought the boom to an end, and a year later (2009), the average Rotherham property had dropped to £109,033.

The 2010s – The property market started to come back to life in the early 2010s with property values steadily rising throughout the decade, yet builders were only building around 135,000 new homes a year. It also might surprise you that by 2015/6, the number of homeowners was starting to rise quite significantly, meaning today, as we enter the 2020’s decade, the average value of a Rotherham property now stands at £155,474.

So, now we are back to 2021.

Yes, your Great-Great-Grandfather might have been able to buy their Rotherham house for a shade over £198 in 1871. Taking inflation into account since 1871, that same Rotherham house today would be £23,872.73, yet if his wages had increased by inflation at the same rate, the average wage today would be £81.91 per week, not the current £585.50 per week.

I appreciate there are plenty of other factors involved with this topic, such as the cost of renting, raising a deposit, changing lifestyles and the biggest point, the cost of borrowing money on a mortgage.

All this begs the question, what does the future hold for the Rotherham property market?

It’s obvious since the mid-1980s, house prices have sustained a period of impressive growth (even withstanding a couple of property crashes). The Bank of England has gone on record to say that much of the rise in average house values, comparative to wages, between 1985 and now can be seen because of a sustained, dramatic, and consistently unexpected decline in real interest rates and additionally concludes that: ‘An unexpected and persistent increase in the medium-term real interest rates will generate a fall in real house prices.’

Cheap mortgages and a lack of building have created this situation. So as long as interest rates don’t go back to their long-term average of the 5% to 7% range or the Government decides to increase building new homes to half a million a year (from the current 240,000 per year) … things will carry on as they are in the medium to long-term.

These are my thoughts. I would love to hear any stories of your family buying property in the late 19^th Century or early 20^th Century and what they paid for it, together with the affordability of Rotherham property and the future of it.

All the signs are that the Rotherham housing market is sat on good foundations, yet one key hazard could still scupper the market.

‘UK Property Prices Rising at Record Levels’ is the headline of many newspapers. In the last few weeks, the Halifax reported they had grown by 6.5% in the last 12 months, whilst the Nationwide said 7.1% and not to be outdone, the Government’s own Land Registry said 8.6%. Nothing new there then you might think, don’t UK house prices always increase?

Actually, they don’t, as many Rotherham homeowners will remember 2009, when they dropped by 19%. Also, some more mature Rotherham homeowners will remember the early 1990’s where house prices dropped just over 40% over 4 years (after the 1989 property crash). So, the increase in UK house prices over the last 12 months has mystified all the forecasts made by most economists as…

house prices were forecast to drop during the pandemic because during the previous six UK recessions experienced since WW2, house prices have always fallen sharply in real terms.

Yet 2020 was different with house price growth increasing at its highest rate since 2014 as the substantial Government support programmes (including Bounce Back Loans, grants and furlough) has mollified the hit to household incomes. Add to that the pent-up demand from the Boris Bounce, all the people working from home wanting an extra room for an office and therefore needing to move, plus the stamp duty tax holiday, with the cherry on the cake of 0.1% Bank of England interest rates keeping borrowing affordable. This has meant…

Rotherham property values are 4.8% higher than a year ago.

Yet the affordability of property is a big issue going forward. By the time of the height of the last property boom in 2008, the national ratio of average property values to earnings had risen from 5.1 in 2000 to 8.8 (i.e. the average house price was 8.8 times the size of the UK’s average person’s annual earnings). We then had the property crash in the proceeding years, and the ratio dropped to around late six’s/early sevens. However, over the last few years, the ratio has been steadily rising and now with the recent growth in demand for property (the five reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph), the ratio has now smashed past nine. Looking locally…

the ratio of average property values to earnings in Rotherham as a comparison was 2.8 in 2000, rising to 5.5 in 2008, dropping to 4.9 the year later when the Credit Crunch hit, and now currently

 stands at 5.2

So, are we heading for another house price crash? Maybe, maybe not – because the House Price to Earnings ratio only tells us part of the story. Another indicator of the property market is mortgage affordability, which measures the proportion of mortgage payments to average incomes. For all mortgage holders, in 2015, this stood at 24.13% and today it is only just above the national long-term average of 25%, demonstrating that property is still affordable.

Yet, the life blood of the property market are first-time buyers. The long-term average percentage of income which goes on mortgage payments for first-time buyers is 33%. Just before the 1989 property market crash, this stood at 54%. Whilst just before the 2008 property crash, it reached 49%. Today, it stands at 31.7% (and the reason it’s so low even with record high property prices is low interest rates, because when mortgage interest rates are low, this permits people to afford larger mortgages, which enables them to bid up house prices).

So why aren’t more first-time buyers buying more homes? Well in fact they are buying more homes. At the turn of the Millennium, just over half of 25yo to 35yo were homeowners and by 2014, this had dropped to just a third, although since then it has increased to 41%. Now with the reintroduction of the Government backed 95% mortgages in April, this demand will continue further.

Once furlough ends, unemployment will doubtless rise in the following 12 months, yet the economy is more than likely to be in a boom phase, so by the spring/summer of 2022, the unemployment rate should start to fall.

So, does everything look great for the Rotherham property market?

Before you get the Champagne out, there is a cloud on the horizon – the possibility of higher interest rates.

Undoubtedly, for the next few years, interest rates will not go up (and if they do – it will only be nominally). However, down the line it may be a different tale. Interest rates are used to control a number of economic factors, one being the currency and secondly inflation.

As many suggest, if we get an economic boom in the next 12 to 18 months, as we come out of lockdown, this will put upward pressure on the price of goods and services. Normally, when prices go up (inflation), to ensure that inflation doesn’t get out of control, interest rates are normally increased to dampen down the inflation.

So, will interest rates rise? Undoubtedly they will. Rotherham homeowners and buy-to-let landlords should seriously consider protecting themselves with fixed rate mortgages (yet 3 in 10 mortgagees are still on variable rate mortgages!). I believe we will see some inflation in the order of 3% to 5% in the coming 24 to 36 months, yet the interest rates won’t be enabled to bring it down. We had a similar case in the early 2010’s when we had a mis-match of demand and supply of goods, and inflation spiked to 5%, before returning back to its long term 2% average quite quickly thereafter.

The Chancellor will also encourage some inflation to reduce the ‘real’ cost of the Billions he has borrowed because of the pandemic, yet won’t want to see interest rates increase to take the cost of the borrowing upwards.

If you are considering moving home or buying/selling a buy-to-let property in Rotherham in the next 12 to 18 months, and want a chat about your options, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

Moving home is said to be the third most stressful thing you can do, so if you can do anything to reduce that stress, so much the better? When buying your next Rotherham home, being chain-free can certainly reduce your stress and offers many advantages over other buyers (and some disadvantages).

So, what is a chain? A property chain is made when there is a line of home buyers and home sellers linked through their property transactions e.g. a Rotherham first-time buyer purchases a property, the sellers of that property then buy another property, and those sellers then buy another property, so on and so forth. Each home sale and purchase are reliant upon the success of every property in the so called ‘chain’. This means if there is one hiccup on one of the properties, every sale and purchase along the whole chain would collapse. No wonder everyone is on tenterhooks when there is a long chain involved.

Yet Rotherham buyers who sell their home before searching for a new Rotherham home considerably reduce their stress levels because they are not needing all the ducks to ‘line up in a row’ on the sale of their home in order to buy their new Rotherham home.

Being chain-free puts Rotherham home buyers in an enhanced position to negotiate with home sellers and they in turn may be more enthusiastic to accepting a lower offer.

Sounds brilliant this chain-free life doesn’t it? Everyone is a chain-free buyer once … when they are a first-time buyer and if they are lucky enough to have an additional home to move into. The other option is selling your Rotherham home and moving into rented accommodation, but that will end up costing quite a few thousand pounds (in what many perceive as wasted money) together with the added cost of employing the services of home removers twice (with all the hassle that entails doubled!). However, that is what many Rotherham homeowners are doing.

21.6% of all the properties on the market today in Rotherham are being sold without a chain.

I can’t disagree, moving home twice in a short period will be stressful and rent could be perceived as ‘wasted money’, but I have to recommend you look at the bigger picture. It is one of the sturdiest sellers’ markets in a generation, meaning you should get top dollar for your Rotherham home, knowing that many buyers are keen to complete before the stamp duty holiday ends in the autumn.

Then by waiting for the return of stamp duty and for the full roll out on the immunisation programme to give more Rotherham homeowners the peace of mind to place their Rotherham home on to the property market, for Rotherham house prices to cool and the number of properties for sale to increase. Then you could pounce in and buy, with more Rotherham homes to choose from and at more realistic asking prices.

So, does the type of Rotherham property that is being sold make any difference?

• 1% of detached houses in Rotherham are being sold chain-free
• 1% of semi-detached houses in Rotherham are being sold chain-free
• 1% of town house/terraced Houses in Rotherham are being sold chain-free
• 5% of apartments/flats in Rotherham are being sold chain-free
• 6% of bungalows in Rotherham are being sold chain-free

Of course, these aren’t all Rotherham homeowners going into rented accommodation hoping to bag a bargain next year. Many of the bungalows are being sold because their homeowner has either moved into sheltered accommodation or sadly passed on and there are Rotherham landlords selling their Rotherham buy-to-let rental investments.

And don’t get me wrong, there are also risks involved with this type of home buying strategy. Moving into rented accommodation means you are out of the Rotherham property market. Property values could dip in the next 12 months, yet they still could continue to rise – you are taking a gamble on a dip in the market and it could go wrong.

Like most things in life, it depends on your own personal circumstances, where you are in your life, your attitude to risk and your belief on what will (or won’t) happen to property values in Rotherham in the next 12 to 18 months.

If you would like a chat about your potential choices for your home move, call the office on 01709 365584.

…and new 5% deposit mortgages for
Rotherham first-time buyers

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced two initiatives to keep the Rotherham property market firing on all cylinders into 2021.

Firstly, the £500,000 zero-rate Stamp Duty band has been extended to the 30th June 2021. After then it will phase down to £250,000 for an additional three months, returning to the pre-pandemic levels on the 1st October 2021. Secondly, Mr Sunak announced a scheme that will allow Rotherham first-time buyers to buy their Rotherham home with a 5% deposit from this April. Let me look at what each initiative means to the Rotherham property market.

1. Stamp Duty Holiday extension for Rotherham home buyers

Coming out of the first lockdown in the early summer of 2020, there was a lot of apprehension that the British property market would flounder. Therefore, when the Stamp Duty Holiday was announced back in July 2020 to boost the property market, the deadline was set at the 31st March 2021. Little did anyone know of the snowball effect of people wanting to move because of the initial lockdown in the spring of 2020, the pent-up demand following the conclusion of the EU negotiations with the subsequent ‘Boris Bounce’ and then the Stamp Duty Holiday which made the perfect storm for what has been the busiest property market in Rotherham since 2001/2.

The average stamp duty paid by a
Rotherham homebuyer is £590

The reason the Stamp Duty extension is important is that many estate agents and solicitors have been warning for the last couple of months that home buyers would pull out of property deals or renegotiate if they could not complete their sale in time before the Stamp Duty Holiday ended.

So, by phasing down the Stamp Duty Holiday, this will allow some breathing space for burdened solicitors and mortgage lenders, thus decreasing the number of buyers pulling out of their property purchase because they unexpectedly have to find up to an extra £15,000 in Stamp Duty when property sales do not complete on time.

There are currently 1,439 properties that are sold STC in Rotherham alone and the vast majority of those will save money on their stamp duty because of this extension

So, what does the Stamp Duty extension mean for Rotherham house prices?

The extension has heightened confidence in the Rotherham property market. The Government watchdog ‘The Office for Budget Responsibility’, has predicted that house prices in 4 years’ time will be just over 13% higher, compared to their pre-Christmas predicted figure of 11% growth (over the same time frame).

2. 5% deposit mortgages for Rotherham first-time buyers

From next month, Rotherham first-time buyers will be able to buy Rotherham homes worth up to £600,000 with a 5% deposit and a Government-backed mortgage with a fixed rate of up to 5 years.

Rishi Sunak wants to turn the millennial ‘Generation Renters’ into ‘Generation Buyers’ and believes this initiative should be able to help two million people get on the property ladder. When we look at what that would mean for Rotherham, I estimate …

3,532 Rotherham people could be helped onto the
Rotherham property ladder with these 5% deposit mortgages

The Government backed scheme will be open to Rotherham first-time buyers for 21 months (until the end of 2022) and available from lenders including NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC (plus others to be announced soon). It will be available on all Rotherham homes new or second hand (previous schemes applied to new homes only).

5% deposit mortgages were all but withdrawn from the market at the start of the pandemic in spring 2020 with an almost default minimum deposit of 10% (even as high as 15% in the autumn just gone) putting homeownership out of reach for all but the wealthiest Rotherham first time buyers.

I must admit I found it a scandal that homeownership among the 25 to 34 year olds plummeted from 69% in 1981 to 36% by 2014, although with certain Government incentives and low interest rates since then, that had risen to 41% by last year, but it’s not enough

With so many young families paying huge sums in rent, who could effortlessly afford to make mortgage repayments on the same property, they haven’t been able to save enough for a 10% initial mortgage deposit, let alone 15%.

Yet now with these new 5% deposit mortgages, many Rotherham first-time buyers will be able to afford to buy their first home in Rotherham. Banks will typically lend between four and a half and five times the gross annual income – this means with a modest 5% deposit; many Rotherham 20 and 30 somethings will now be able to buy their first home. Just before I finish this topic, the 5% deposit mortgages will also be available to current Rotherham homeowners who don’t have the equity built up in their existing home – thus helping second or third (or more) time Rotherham buyers as well.

How do both of these changes affect Rotherham buy-to-let landlords?

I know many of you Rotherham landlords are adding to your Rotherham rental portfolio because of the Stamp Duty Holiday and with the extension, you too will save some money from it. The issue of first-time buyer mortgages does mean the demand for private rented accommodation in Rotherham might not be as strong in the coming decade.

Don’t get me wrong, tenant demand will continue to outstrip supply of Rotherham rental properties for the foreseeable future, yet the tenant/landlord balance could alter slightly in the medium term. Rotherham landlords need to take a long hard look at their properties and ascertain if they are fit for purpose both now and into the 2030’s. Tenants are becoming a lot more demanding of what their rental property offers. Wood chip wallpaper, avocado green bathroom suites and kitchens fitted in the 1990’s (or before) simply won’t cut the mustard in the next decade.

The demand from Rotherham tenants for properties with larger gardens, or the ability to keep pets or an extra reception room/garden office to allow them to enjoy their rented home more and also being able to work from home will ensure greater demand for your rental property … and the best bit, they will pay handsomely for that in higher rent.

If you are a Rotherham homeowner, buyer, tenant or landlord and you want to discuss your options on selling, buying or renting a property in Rotherham and the surrounding area, do not hesitate to contact me personally.

We take great pride in the way we treat both landlords and tenants. We feel our approach to both parties help us maintain a very low number of issues related to deposits when a tenancy ends.

Here are seven steps we’d recommend that will go a long way to ensuring neither party will be feeling despair when it comes to deposits.

1. Landlords – have the property professionally cleaned by a reputable professional cleaning firm before the tenancy starts. Not only is this a nice way to handover the property, but it is unambiguous and the tenant must return it in the same way at the end of the tenancy.
2. Have a professional inventory drawn up by a reputable provider and make sure to include the check-in and check-out service. In most cases this will remove the possibility for argument and can equally protect both landlord and tenant. Landlords: Note that without a full and detailed inventory/check-in/check-out report the tenancy deposit schemes are unlikely to find in your favour in the event that you subsequently bring a claim against a tenant’s deposit. A list on a piece of paper is simply not good enough.
3. Keep the inventory updated. As time passes by, the landlord may well be replacing things (a new washing machine, for example). Or improvements may be made (a new bathroom, for example). Attach a copy of the invoice for such items to the inventory. That way, the inventory clerk will know what to look for at the check-out.
4. Tenants – when your tenancy eventually ends, you will need to be returning it “as you found it”, less fair wear and tear. Consider using the same cleaning company that the landlord/agent used before your tenancy started. Cleaners occasionally miss things, it’s easily done – so discuss with them and your landlord/agent whether or not the cleaning firm will be allowed back in to put things right after your tenancy has been surrendered. Note: the landlord is not legally obliged to agree.
5. Tenants – also give consideration to any damage to the property. If you are not sure about anything discuss it with your landlord/agent before the check-out since it may well be possible to find a solution that you can deal with yourself.
6. Once the tenancy is over, and the check-out report received, deal with it promptly. If there are issues to be resolved then polite and professional communications will nearly always bring a swift resolution to settlement of the deposit.
7. Final tip – And this is a really important one. If things aren’t working out the way you had expected, try not to get over emotional. This will invariably make matters worse. In these situations, we’ve seen what should have been solved quickly and easily escalated to an adjudication process with one of the tenancy deposit schemes. This is very time-consuming and very stressful.

Trying to cut corners on inventories is often a recipe for problems further down the line. We always say to my landlords to begin the tenancy with the end in mind.

You need to be thinking right from the outset what you need to do to protect yourself and the property from any issues at the end of the tenancy.

A final point is to view the big picture. We’ve seen in the past disputes over £50 at the end of a ‘good’ tenancy stretching back three years.

When you take into account that the landlord had a good tenant for three years and the tenant benefitted from a very fair rent rate during that period a little common sense and give and take soon resolves the issue and means everyone parts feeling happy.

And that’s the win win situation we aim for and which most people feel good about.

Thanks for reading and if you have any other property related questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us – we’d love to help you.

The UK is a nation of animal lovers.

We’ve led the way on several global campaigns which have improved animal rights and welfare.

The pet business in the UK is a billion-pound industry.

In our experience, most landlords do not want to accept people who have pets. But some will consider it based on certain criteria being met.

Here are our seven top tips for landlords when considering letting their property to someone with pets.

Remember it’s your choice either way and you need to think very carefully before deciding.

1. Seek total honesty from the prospective tenant from the outset and ask for as much information as about the pet as possible.

2. Ask for references. The more the better, with the current landlord providing one if available. They’ll need to show evidence from people who can testify as to the behaviour of the pet and, therefore, the likelihood or otherwise, of the pet causing damage to your property.

3. Ensure your agreement contains a pet clause confirming what is expected from the tenants at the end of the tenancy i.e. covering cost for any damage caused by the pet.

4. Confirm upfront how long they are likely to want to live in the property for.

5. There is an option to advertise the property with two separate rent amounts, one for a tenant without pets and a slightly higher rent for tenants who have a pet(s).

In our experience, prospective tenants have become a lot more honest about having pets. Twenty or so years ago it wouldn’t be uncommon for people to try to ‘sneak’ pets in. This is much, much rarer now.

There are certain websites where you can find more information about this subject.

These include www.letswithpets.org.uk and http://www.landlords.org.uk/agents/lets-with-pets

Thanks for reading and if you have any other property related questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us – we’d love to help you.

What Is Involved In Letting Out A Property And Managing It?

Starting out
Renting out a property always posses a risk, and for some landlords handing over the keys to a stranger can be the cause of immense stress and worry.
Letting agents must carry out a variety of checks to ensure the property is ‘fit for human habitation’ and provides a safe and health environment. This includes possessing an understand of safety regulation such as furnishing (fire and safety) regulation, electrical equipment (safety) regulations, gas safety (installation and use) regulations, and the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulation for England.
Moving in
When a tenancy is agreed, the agent must ensure they provide the tenant with statutory documentation such as a current EPC, gas safety certificate etc. Failure to serve all of the correct documents at the start of the tenancy could jeopardise their chances of taking back possession of the property at a later date.
Agents are also required to provide a detailed inventory, or schedule of condition, which records all of the contents, fixtures and fittings of the property and their state of repair. It is crucial this is carried out thoroughly as any future claim on the deposit for dilapidations will rely on it as evidence.
During the course of the tenancy the letting agent will monitor the condition of the property and will liaise with the tenant over any repairs. Letting agents have a duty of care to both landlords and tenants, often acting as mediators between the two parties and calming the waters where necessary.
Money matters
All money received from the tenant must be handled correctly to protect the interests of both the tenant and the landlord, and an audit record kept.
If landlords live overseas then, as well as management of the property, there is also the Non-Resident Landlord tax to consider. Without an agent it would fall to the tenant to operate the scheme.
The agency as a whole must also comply with all of the relevant regulations, such as having client Money Protection to protect landlords and tenants’, and making sure the accounting runs like clockwork. They remove all the stress for landlords of chasing rent reconciling payments, paying contractors and tax. Agents are also on hand to guide landlords through the processes around the end of tenancy.
At the end of the tenancy there is a very strict process that must be followed to legally obtain possession of the property. The rules surrounding this process have been changing constantly over the last years.
THE ROLE OF THE LETTING AGENT HAS NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT, WHILE THE WORK INVOLVED IN LETTING AND MANAGING A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY HAS NEVER BEEN SO INVOLVED.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and our minds (well some of us) turning to thoughts of love, relationships and romance.
During the 21 years as a letting agent and property manager we’ve seen many times when people who have decided to rent out a property can’t ‘let go of it’ emotionally.
Our advice to all landlords, especially new ones, is to totally detach their emotions from the property.
Here are ten of our top tips to run your rental property business well.
1) If you’re interested in the buy to let business for the sake of investment and financial gain, then it’s important to “keep it strictly business”. Don’t take a viewer not wanting to move in personally or get annoyed when a tenant decides to move out.
2) When making your purchase discard the things that might be attractive to you if you were going to live in the property. What matters is selecting a property that will be attractive to the masses.
3) We know you’ve heard it before but location, location, location. Tenants, especially busy professionals love a good location. It needs to be convenient to transportation (the nearer to a train/bus/motorway the better) as well as shops and increasingly cafes and coffee shops. And if it’s convenient to schools, green spaces, restaurants, cinemas and theatres then even better for when we are able to venture back out.
4) When you rent out your property ensure that it’s fitted out to a good standard. Good quality fittings will not only attract good quality tenants, they will also attract better rental values. And as the years go by you will find yourself spending less on repairs and upgrades. Be warned though we’ve seen many a landlord pay dearly for cheap fittings/materials and/or cheap labour.
5) No one loves a cheap skate. It’s fair to say that you will very likely be financially better off in the long term by spending more at the outset. It doesn’t have to be “high-end”, just reasonably good quality. For example, when buying paint go for a good brand like Dulux as opposed to your local DIY store’s own brand. A brand like Dulux will last much longer and stand up to things like cleaning off scuffs; unlike cheap imitations which will invariably wash off with the scuff!