I had a chat with a
local landlord and he wanted to know my thoughts on the future of the Melton
Mowbray property market. 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 to what type of roof they have ... they rent from the Council, they can rent
from a private landlord or finally they can get a mortgage and buy one. 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 a cheap
two up two down, then buy your first house. More recently fewer Melton Mowbray
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 Melton Mowbray
was a different place. There were 9,763 households in Melton Mowbray and 7,224
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 18.95% to 11,613 and
quite surprising (to me at least), the number of owner-occupiers has increased
to 8,237 (although as a proportion, it is only 70.9% compared to 73.9% twenty
years ago).
However, it’s rented sector that is truly
fascinating … twenty years ago, only 534 properties were privately rented in Melton
Mowbray ... and now its 1,533, a rise of 999.
The twentysomethings
of Melton Mowbray housing difficulties haven’t been helped by the local
authority selling off council housing, with the number of council houses
dropping from 1,364 to 1,176 over the same twenty-year period. Demand for
decent 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
landlords drop from 45% to 20%), private landlords still have an important role
to play in housing the people of Melton Mowbray and those who educate
themselves and treat it as a business will survive and prosper.
The best way Melton Mowbray landlords can protect
their income from property (and mitigate the affects of the tax rises) is to
keep the homes they let out in Grade A condition. I have found, especially over
the last three or four years, Melton Mowbray tenants have ever growing demands
from their rental property, but many are prepared to pay ‘top dollar‘ for houses
and apartments that meet their high expectations. You must not forget, letting
property in Melton Mowbray (in fact anywhere) is a business, so all private
landlords should also seek the advice, opinion and commentary of property
professionals.
He also asked ‘What
of the news of Stamp Duty changes for Landlords coming in April?’ My thoughts
are with such low supply (i.e. numbers of property for sale), and
high demand it is hard to imagine Melton Mowbray property values will see much
impact – but I predict, ever so slightly, the proportion of owner occupiers
should increase slightly compared to buy to let landlords in the coming decade
as the the housing market should return to balance. For more in-depth thoughts
on the Melton Mowbray Property Market, please feel free to give me a call on 01664 569700.
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