TUNBRIDGE WELLS

"MIGHT SELL, MIGHT NOT!"

Despite what you might read in the press, the current Tunbridge wells Property market is as near a “normal” market as experienced estate agents have known for years in terms of the balance between properties available for sale and the number of willing and able buyers.   

However, unlike most “normal” markets, some sellers are not as committed to selling as they might be, and are prepared to remain on the market until what they regard as an acceptable offer comes along.  

Likewise, some buyers, whilst generally remaining committed to a purchase, do not exhibit a great deal of urgency, and believe that they are entitled to submit a relatively low offer in the hope that the seller might just take it.

There are two issues here and we would advise caution to buyer and seller alike in Tunbridge Wells. Firstly, if, as a seller, your house fails to sell for whatever reason and you are on the market with a proven good agent, then it is probably priced too ambitiously for the current conditions. If you allow it to remain on the market at that price, it could become stale on the market, resulting in an inevitable fall in price greater than a minor repositioning effected now. 

From a buyer’s perspective, we suggest you focus on securing the right home for your needs, within your budget, more than on finding the greatest bargain. A percentage off the asking price is irrelevant if the asking price is too much to begin with, but a well-priced property is always in demand. Unless you act decisively, you could miss out.

So the rule of thumb is this; if you see a property that you can afford, which offers you the accommodation you need in an area you like, and you could be happy there, then snap it up, as the chances are that most of the other buyers in your price range will also want that property. Good value is good value - in any market.    

92.1% of Royal Tunbridge Wells Homeowners are over 35 - The affect of their Brexit vote on the Royal Tunbridge Wells Property Market

Well it’s been over 7 weeks since the Referendum vote and we have had a chance to reflect on the momentous decision that the British public took. I had gone to bed the night before with a draft of my Remain article nicely all but finished, to be presented, at just after 5am, with the declaration by the BBC saying we were leaving the EU. I don’t think any of us were expecting that.

In this article I would like to take my thoughts on from that initial article and now start to see the clearer picture as the dust settles on the UK, but more importantly, the Royal Tunbridge Wells Property Market.

In case you weren’t aware, the residents of the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Council area went with the National mood and voted as follows ..

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council     Remain Votes 35,676             (54.9% of the vote)

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council     Leave Votes    29,320             (45.1% of the vote)

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Turnout    79.1%

I have been reading there is some evidence to indicate younger voters were vastly more likely to vote Remain than their parents and grandparents and, whilst the polling industry's techniques may have been widely criticised, following them getting both the 2010 General Election and the recent Brexit vote wrong, anecdotally, many surveys seem to suggest there was a relationship between age and likelihood to support leaving the EU.

Interestingly, the average age of a Royal Tunbridge Wells resident is 39.6 years old, which is above the national average of 39.3, which might go someway to back up the way Royal Tunbridge Wells voted? What I do know is that putting aside whether you were a remain or leave voter, the vote to leave has, and will, create uncertainty and the last thing the British property market needs is uncertainty (because as with previous episodes of uncertainty in the UK economy – UK house prices have tended to go down).

Interestingly, when we look at the Homeownership rates in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Council area, of the 31,374 properties that are owned in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Council area (Owned being owned outright, owned with a mortgage or shared ownership), the age range paints a noteworthy picture.

Age 16 to 34 homeowners       2,474    or        7.8%  (Nationally 9.6%)

Age 35 to 49 homeowners       9,579    or      30.5%  (Nationally 29.2%)

Age 50 to 64 homeowners       9,814    or      31.3%  (Nationally 30.7%)

Aged 65+ homeowners            9,507    or      30.3%  (Nationally 30.5%)

So, looking at these figures, and the high proportion of older homeowners, you might think all the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Council area homeowners would vote Remain to keep house prices stable and younger people would vote out so house prices come down- so they could afford to buy?

But there's a risk in oversimplifying this. The sample of the polling firms are in the thousands whilst the country voted in its millions. Other demographic influences have been at play in the way people voted, as early evidence is starting to suggest that class, level of education, the levels of immigration and ethnic diversity had an influence on the way the various parts of the UK voted.

So what I suggest is this – Don’t assume everyone over the age of 50 voted ‘Leave’ and don’t assume most 20 somethings backed ‘Remain’; because many didn't!

The Royal Tunbridge Wells Love Affair with its 4,700 Terraced Houses

Call me old fashioned, but I do like the terraced house.   In fact, I have done some research that I hope you will find of interest my Royal Tunbridge Wells property market blog reading friends!

In architecture terms, a terraced or townhouse is a style of housing in use since the late 1600’s in the UK, where a row of symmetrical / identical houses share their side walls. The first terraced houses were actually built by a French man, Monsieur Barbon around St. Paul’s Cathedral within the rebuilding process after the Great Fire of London in 1666.  Interestingly, it was the French that invented the terraced house around 1610-15 in the Le Marais district of Paris with its planned squares and properties with identical facades. However, it was the 1730’s in the UK, that the terraced/townhouse came into its own in London and of course in Bath with the impressive Royal Crescent.

However, we are in Royal Tunbridge Wells, not Bath, so the majority of our Royal Tunbridge Wells terraced houses were built in the Victorian era.  Built on the back of the Industrial Revolution, with people flooding into the towns and cities for work in Victorian times, the terraced house offered decent livable accommodation away from the slums. An interesting fact is that the majority of Victorian Royal Tunbridge Wells terraced houses are based on standard design of a ‘posh’ front room, a back room (where the family lived day to day) and scullery off that.  Off the scullery, a door to a rear yard, whilst upstairs, three bedrooms (the third straight off the second).  Interestingly, the law was changed in 1875 with the Public Health Act and each house had to have 108ft of livable space per main room, running water, it’s own outside toilet and rear access to allow the toilet waste to be collected (they didn’t have public sewers in those days in Royal Tunbridge Wells – well not at least where these ‘workers’ terraced houses were built).

It was the 1960’s and 70’s where inside toilets and bathrooms were installed (often in that third bedroom or an extension off the scullery) and gas central heating in the 1980’s and replacement Upvc double glazing ever since.

Looking at the make up of all the properties in Royal Tunbridge Wells, some very interesting numbers appear.  Of the 26,061 properties in Royal Tunbridge Wells …

5,086 are Detached properties (19.5%)

6,509 are Semi Detached properties (24.9%)

4,742 are Terraced / Town House properties (18.2%)

9,720 are Apartment/ Flat’s (37.3%)

And quite noteworthy, there are 4 mobile homes, representing 0.02% of all property in Royal Tunbridge Wells. 

When it comes to values, the average price paid for a Royal Tunbridge Wells terraced house in 1995 was £56,700 and the latest set of figures released by the land Registry states that today that figure stands at £327,590, a rise of 478% - not bad when you consider semi-detached properties in Royal Tunbridge Wells in the same time frame have only risen by 364%.

But then a lot of buy to let landlords and first time buyers I speak to think the Victorian terraced house is expensive to maintain.  I recently read a report from English Heritage that stated maintaining a typical Victorian terraced house over thirty years is around sixty percent cheaper than building and maintaining a modern house- which is quite fascinating don’t you think!

Don’t dismiss the humble terraced house – especially in Royal Tunbridge Wells!  

“A Summer Breeze… for Burglars!”

When the weather is good, there’s no beating a British summer. It’s the time to enjoy barbecues, outdoor entertaining, children splashing in the paddling pool and balmy evenings.   

However, because there is never any guarantee of really hot weather, British households tend not to have air conditioning, unlike other countries where sweltering summers are inevitable. So when things hot up, we tend to revert to our manual air-conditioning system – we open the windows! 

The problem is that we often forget to close them again, or we deliberately leave them open night and day, providing a perfect opportunity for burglars and opportunists to pounce. Indeed, insurance companies report a 21% increase in claims following an unforced entry during the summer months. Small easily-snatched items such as handbags, car keys, mobile phones and jewellery are among the most popular thefts; lucrative for the thief and really, really, annoying to lose. Burglars can be in and out of a property in seconds, often whilst unsuspecting occupants are in the garden or watching television in another room.  

To add insult to injury, insurance companies will not usually honour a claim for such theft unless the homeowner has “taken reasonable steps to prevent loss or damage”. An open window is an invitation to a burglar and hardly demonstrates the reasonable care demanded by insurers. 

There are obvious yet often overlooked ways of avoiding the anxiety of a summer theft, such as: 

• Never leave front doors or windows open or unlocked when you are at the back of your property or in the garden.  
• Never leave valuables on windowsills. 
• Use restrictors on windows so they can only be opened part-way. 
• Regularly review your home insurance needs.  
• Support your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme. 

 May we wish you a happy and secure summer

Dave R