One of the key factors that determine the price of anything
is the demand and supply of the item that is being bought and sold. When it
comes to property, demand can change overnight, but it takes years and years to
build new properties, thus increasing the supply.
The Conservatives have pledged to build over 1 million homes
by 2020. I am of the opinion that as a country, irrespective of which party, we
have not built enough homes for decades, and if the gap between the number of
households forming and the number of new homes being built continues to grow,
we are in danger of not being able to house our children or grand children. I
believe the country is past the time for another grand
statement of ambition by another Housing Minister. Surely it’s right to give
normal Royal Tunbridge Wells families back the hope of a secure home, be that
rented or owned? As a town, we need to exert pressure on our local MP Greg
Clark, so he can make sure Westminster is held accountable, to ensure there is
a comprehensive plan, with enough investment, that can actually get these homes
built.
To give you an idea of the sorts of numbers we are talking
about, in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area, in 2005, 440 properties
were built. In 2007 and 2008 it peaked at 690. By 2012, that figure had dropped
by a massive 69.57% to 210 properties built... where are we going to house all
these new people in RTW when new home building is dropping like it is?
The outcome
of too few homes being built in Royal Tunbridge Wells means the working people of
the town are being priced out of buying their first home and renters are not
getting the quality they deserve for their money. The local authority isn’t
building the estates they were after the war and housing associations are
having their budgets tightened year on year, meaning they have less money to
spend on building new properties. I know of many Royal Tunbridge Wells
youngsters, who are living with their parents for longer because they cannot
afford to get onto the housing ladder and growing families are unable to buy
the bigger homes they need.
I talk to
many Royal Tunbridge Wells business people and they tell me they need a
flexible and mobile workforce, but the high cost of moving home and lack of
decent and affordable housing are barriers to attracting and retaining
employees. Furthermore, building new homes is a powerful source of growth,
creating jobs across the county and supporting hundreds of Royal Tunbridge
Wells businesses. It is true that landlords have taken up the mantle and over
the last 15 years have bought a large number of properties. The Government need
to be thankful to all those Royal Tunbridge Wells landlords, who own the 5,353
rental properties in the town. Most local landlords only have a handful of
rented properties (to aid their retirement), and without them, I honestly don’t
know who would house all the extra people in Royal Tunbridge Wells!
Moving
forward, those Royal Tunbridge Wells landlords have many pitfalls, both in the
short term and medium term. For instance, were you aware that the rules of
changes for new tenancies from the 1st October 2015 (with some
imposing penalties including loosing the right to require the tenant to vacate,
if they are done incorrectly) or in the medium term, the planned change in the
way buy to let’s are taxed?
More than
ever, the days of buying any old property in Royal Tunbridge Wells and you would
be set for life are gone. Now, it’s all about ensuring you stay the right side
of the law, buying the right property (and that might mean even selling some to
buy others), so you build the right portfolio for you as a landlord. One source
of info on all of these issues, where you will find other articles similar to
this on the Royal Tunbridge Wells property market, is the Royal Tunbridge Wells
Property Blog
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