The 11 Rules to Buying a Tunbridge Wells Property

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My 11 Rules to Buying a Royal Tunbridge Wells Property

 

 

Finding your next Tunbridge Wells property, be that for yourself to live in or as a buy-to-let landlord, can sometimes be a scary task. You are possibly making one of the biggest purchases of your life, and you want to ensure you make the right choice.

 

Buying your next property is all about finding a property with the features that match your requirements. However, what might be important to you as a homebuyer, might not be as important to other Tunbridge Wells homebuyers.

 

Some features will be red line must haves, whilst other features might be more negotiable, yet understanding what your requirements need to be, will make it easier to find the Tunbridge Wells home of your dreams.

 

Let’s look at my top 11 rules you need to consider when buying a property in Tunbridge Wells.

 

1. Location, Location, Location in Tunbridge Wells

 

You can change many things within a property, but location isn’t one. They say you should buy a property for the things you can change. Go and visit the different neighbourhoods of thevv BBC area. Don’t just drive through them, walk through them at different times of the day. Look at weekdays as well as weekends. Think about transport links with access to bus routes, arterial roads. If you have children (or your tenants may have), think about school catchment areas for primary/secondary schools.

 

2. Tunbridge Wells Bedrooms

 

Did you know there are 64,745 bedrooms in Tunbridge Wells?

 

Well, you do now! Anyway, the number of bedrooms is a very significant consideration when buying your new home locally. If you need bedrooms for your children, the location of the bedrooms could be an issue. Depending on the age of any children, you might not want them to be a long way from the master bedroom, or if the children are teenagers, the opposite could be true. Bedroom size is also important. Is there enough space for children to study or have wardrobes? Do you need bedrooms for an office? If office space is required, you might want to consider a property with one less bedroom and one more reception room – and it will probably be a little cheaper. All things to consider.

 

 

 

3. Potential Future House Price Growth in Tunbridge Wells

 

The type of house you buy will determine how it increases in value in the future. Now this shouldn’t be the main consideration, yet it’s important to consider.

 

Since 2001, the different types of property in Tunbridge Wells have risen by different percentages:

 

•  detached properties have risen by 147.0%

•  semi-detached properties have risen by 162.5%

•  town houses/terraced properties have risen by 172.7%

•  apartments/flats have risen by 144.9%

 

On a standalone point for Tunbridge Wells landlords, the level of rent and yield are important considerations for your Return on Investment (ROI). There tends to be an inverse relationship between capital growth and yield (i.e. Tunbridge Wells properties with higher capital growth tend to have lower rental yields). If you are a t local landlord and have any questions on this (or any point), drop me a note.

 

4. The Overall Interior Size Of Your Future Tunbridge Wells Property

 

On average a person only views five houses before they buy a house and only spends around 20 minutes in each on a viewing. Therefore, I would advise that you have a good idea about the size of home you require before you start your search. If you have a big family you are going to need a bigger house obviously, yet you still need the budget to afford to buy a bigger home. A top tip for you, the general rule of thumb is the older the house, the more you get for your money.

 

One great idea to calculate the square metreage of your potential home. Ask to view the full copy of the Energy Performance Certificate, as it has the size of the property in square metres.

 

Bigger houses locally tend to cost more money to run with utility bills and council tax.

 

A final thought on size is the question of whether your family is likely to grow in the next decade? Will you have more children or is a parent coming to live with you?

 

5. The Price You Will Have To Pay For Your Next Tunbridge Wells Home

 

In the last 12 months, the property market locally has remained buoyant as people were forced to spend more time at home. Therefore they looked for more space … butwhat did they have to pay for that privilege? 

 

• 291 Tunbridge Wells detached properties have sold for an average £844,200

• 319 Tunbridge Wells semi-detached properties have sold for an average £489,500

• 231 Tunbridge Wells town house/terraced properties have sold for an average £429,700

• 195 Tunbridge Wells apartments/flats have sold for an average £323,600

 

Look at the property portals (e.g. Rightmove, Boomin, Zoopla and OnTheMarket) and search for Tunbridge Wells property that is both available and sold subject to contract. Get a feel for asking prices of the properties that are sold subject to contract as these will give you a good idea what they roughly sold for. Again, if you are not sure, pick up the phone or drop me a line.

 

6. Bathroom(s)

 

Check the bathroom for water leaks. Do the toilets flush OK, do the taps drip? Is there any mould? And do you need more than one?

 

7. The Lounge/Living Room

 

You will undoubtedly be spending a lot of time in the lounge/living room, so it needs to meet your requirements. Do you need a dining area? Does the design and arrangement of the room suit your lifestyle (or your tenants). Will you need new furniture? Are there enough electrical sockets? What are the carpets like? That goes for all rooms.

 

8. Central Heating For Your Tunbridge WellsProperty

 

What type of central heating system is present, and does it meet the requirements of you and the home? The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will tell you how energy efficient the property is and how much it will cost to run. You would be amazed how few buyers ask to see the full copy of the EPC – yet you have the right to view it – always ask the estate agent for a copy or download it for free from the Government website.

 

9. The Outside

 

The outside space of your future home is also something you need to reflect on before you start your search. What sort of back garden do you want? Do you want low maintenance? Do you want a bigger garden? You also need to ensure the outside of your next home is in great condition. Yet, if it’s a ‘do’er-upper’, does the price allow for those works to be done?

 

10. The Loft And Cellar 

 

Another aspect to consider when buying a property is the loft (or even the cellar/basement if it has one). In both, look for water damage that could mean problems in the future whilst in the cellar/basement, a musty smell could be poor ventilation meaning dry damp could be an issue. Also check for insulation in the loft (the Energy Performance Certificate will tell you if it’s up to standard).

 

11. Garage/Off Road Parking Space

 

How many cars do you have in your family? Can you park them all on your drive? Visit the property during the day, the evening, and weekends to see how the parking provision changes. If the property has a garage, can it be used for something else?

 

These are my top 11 rules – yet do you have others I haven’t considered? 

 

Let me know in the comments.

What Will Happen to Royal Tunbridge Wells House Prices in 2022?

Traditionally, if you had not sold your Tunbridge Wells home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla etc) to get potential buyers interested.

Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.

So, the question is, how will 2022 look regarding the Tunbridge Wells property market?

The last couple of years in the local property market have been different in many ways. So much so, many Tunbridge Wells homeowners are presently deliberating whether they should put their home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.

Speaking to many Tunbridge Wells buyers and sellers, (and in fact Tunbridge Wells buy-to-let landlords) in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.

What is going to happen to Tunbridge Wells house prices in 2022?

Some people asking this question are local buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Tunbridge Wells home just before a potential property crash, yet others are homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Tunbridge Wells landlords unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.

Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgement of what should happen in 2022.

Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.

Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years. Locally,

1,042 properties have changed hands in the last year

in Tunbridge Wells 

Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April.

The pandemic made many Tunbridge Wells families re-evaluate what they wanted from their Tunbridge Wells home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.

The issue was, there weren’t enough Tunbridge Wells properties on the market to satisfy every Tunbridge Wells buyer, meaning house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.

 

The average price of a home today in Tunbridge Wells is £520,400

Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.

There aren’t enough properties on the market in Tunbridge Wells. Simply supply and demand economics!

The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.

In January 2007, there were 873 properties for sale in Tunbridge Wells, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 1,305 properties, whilst today, that stands at 388

And I can’t see that changing for 2022.

In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time round most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their Tunbridge Wells home.

Now of course the stamp duty tax holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).

Nonetheless, demand for Tunbridge Wells homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Tunbridge Wells house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.

Tunbridge Wells house prices will be 4.4% higher by

the end of 2022

Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working. 

It might be that Tunbridge Wells buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work. 

This increase in Tunbridge Wells house prices is expected to entice even more Tunbridge Wells house sellers onto the market, which will steady local house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.

What about the Tunbridge Wells rental market?

Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.

Is it the right time to buy your first property in Tunbridge Wells?

This rise in Tunbridge Wells house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Tunbridge Wells prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down? 

As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move. 

If the Tunbridge Wells home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time ... and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!

Buying property is a long-term game

Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.

The present low interest rates for first-time buyers means that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a Tunbridge Wells property, especially if you fix the interest rate.

If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.

Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Tunbridge Wells house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.

The bottom line is, ensure that any Tunbridge Wells house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible. Do that, and you should be just fine.

These are my opinions – what are yours?

Should Landlords be worried about these new rental regulations?

Everyone should be doing their bit to help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint on the globe – yet the question is, is that burden being put too much on the shoulders of landlords with potential bills of £7,600+ in the next four years?

The background - the UK has obligated itself to a legally binding target to be carbon neutral by 2050. One of the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses is residential homes. 

To hit that carbon-neutral target (as one-fifth of the UK's carbon output comes from residential property), every UK home will need to achieve a minimum grade of ‘C’ on their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) by 2035. Each EPC has a rating between ‘A’ and ‘G’ - 'A' being the best energy rating and 'G' the worst – like an energy rating on a fridge or washing machine.

All UK rental properties have required an EPC. Yet, from April 2020, the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations have required all private rental properties (including rental renewals) to have a minimum EPC rating of ‘E’ or above. 

Yet new legislation being discussed by the Government’s Climate Change Committee has suggested that landlords should play their part and increase the energy efficiency of their private rented homes. Sounds fair until you dive into the details.

The Government is muting the idea that all new tenancies (i.e. when a new tenant moves in) in private rented properties should be at an EPC rating of 'C' or above by 2025 (and all existing tenancies by 2028). The issue is …

70.63% of all private rented properties in

Tunbridge Wells have an EPC rating of ‘D’ or below.

The problem is some of our local landlords will find it very expensive, neigh impossible, to improve the energy efficiency of their rented properties, especially those landlords who hold older housing stock such as terraced properties built in the 1800s. These Victorian terraced houses never perform well on EPC ratings as they have solid walls.  

Now, of course, you can improve the EPC rating of a terraced house by improving roof insulation, boiler replacement, solar heating, and high-grade uPVC windows. Yet, with some terraced houses, there will come the point where you will be unable to get to the haloed 'C' rating without installing external or internal wall insulation, sometimes even floor insulation.

With wall insulation costing between £5k and £15k and floor insulation around £5k …

the bill to improve all Tunbridge Wells’ private rented

properties will be a minimum of £40,560,760.

But before I talk about what the options are for landlords, here’s the weird part of EPCs. An EPC rating is calculated on the cost of running a property and not the carbon output or energy efficiency, despite its name. 

My advice to Tunbridge Wells landlords - although it’s correct to create a future strategy, all I can say at this point is 'more haste less speed'. These rule changes are only a discussion paper, and it remains open for consultation by any member of the British public until 30th December 2021. That means the Government's strategies and tactics may change. 

Given that 57% of private rented properties are below a ‘C’ EPC grade, it is hard to believe the Government could achieve this without making big cash grants available.

For example, there is presently a cap of £3,500 for energy improvements that Tunbridge Wells landlords have to spend to get it to the existing EPC ‘E’ target grade on private rented homes (i.e. if you have a privately rented home at an 'F' or 'G' EPC rating, you only need to spend a maximum of £3,500 as a landlord on improving your EPC rating and still being legal even if those £3,500 don't get you to the current 'E' rating minimum). So, if the current rules allow an exemption to the EPC renting rules, if a Tunbridge Wells landlord can’t improve their Tunbridge Wells property enough, conceivably, could this be extended?

So, what are Tunbridge Wells landlord’s options?

One thing you could do is put your head in the sand and hope it all goes away!

Another thing some savvy landlords do (be they my client, clients of other letting agents in Tunbridge Wells or even self-managing landlords) is to sit down and plan a strategy for their rental portfolio. I print off all the EPCs of their rental portfolio, look at the recommendations, then discuss a plan to ensure they are covered whatever the Government decides to make the new EPC rules. Like all things in life, plan for the worse and hope for the best.

If your agent isn't offering that service, please drop me a line because I would hate for you to miss out on the advice and opinion that so many Tunbridge Wells landlords have already had from me.  

With Royal Tunbridge Wells Tenants Deposits Totalling £7,065,960, How Will ‘Lifetime Deposits’ Change the Local Rental Market?

The Government’s scheduled publication of their White Paper for the Renter's Reform Bill, which incorporates proposals to forbid Section 21 evictions and introduce ‘Lifetime Deposits’, has been suspended until 2022. 

The additional time is required to give a chance to create a level playing field to reforms for both landlords and tenants in the private rented sector in England.

In this article, I want to look at these lifetime deposits. How could the Lifetime Deposit Scheme work, and how could they benefit both landlords and tenants? 

When a tenant moves between rented homes, they need the deposit for their new home before being released from their old home. 

The average deposit for a Tunbridge Wells rented home stands at £1,320

This means finding that amount of money at the time of moving home can be difficult for many tenants; thus, they become stuck in their existing rental.

Therefore, Westminster wants to propose in this White Paper a new deposit choice for tenants. A deposit is transferred from the old landlord (letting agent) to the new landlord (letting agent), thus making life simpler as the tenant doesn't need to save for an additional new deposit every time they move home.

Now, of course, it's vital that any new ‘deposit scheme’ does not dissuade Tunbridge Wells landlords from making valid claims for damage to properties. Landlords cannot be expected to give up their right of recourse to a security deposit until such time that they are satisfied there will be no need to claim it.   

So how would Lifetime Deposits work?

There would need to be some form of system safeguarding that the new landlord is protected by a whole deposit, even if the deposit on the old home comes into dispute. 

This will be critical and central to landlords having conviction in the Lifetime Deposit Scheme. That could be something like an interest-free loan for the tenant on the crossover between the properties.

Another advantage to the scheme is that ‘lifetime deposits’ could be used for tenants to build a deposit for a house for the future.

What about the existing system of deposits?

The rules regarding the amount of deposit held by a landlord were changed a couple of years ago, where only five weeks’ worth of rent can be held as a deposit. 

The deposits tenants have had to save for certainly raises the cost of renting a home. 

Some say this extra burden puts another nail in the coffin of the dream of homeownership for many local renters. To give you an idea of the level of deposits held for Tunbridge Wells rental properties …

The total of all the tenants’ deposits in Tunbridge Wells is £7,065,960.

Yet the other side of the argument contends that if the Tunbridge Wells tenant misses more than one month’s worth of rent, the landlord is immediately out of pocket, even before they’ve got the costs of solicitors and any improvement works from the tenant trashing the place.

Does a deposit of just over one month provide Tunbridge Wells landlords with a decent level of protection against unpaid rent or damage to the property? When you consider …

The total value of all the privately rented properties in Tunbridge Wells is £2,819,157,450

Before I conclude my thoughts to the initial question of ‘lifetime deposits’, the need for decent landlord insurance to ensure you are adequately covered as a Tunbridge Wells landlord is vital. 

So, what are my thoughts on ‘Lifetime Deposits’?

It is my opinion the common need for Tunbridge Wells tenants to stump up a ‘two-fold deposit’ is not helping many renters when moving home. It’s clear the standard cash down deposit is not fit for purpose for the 21^st Century. 

One might suggest the Government’s quest for the ‘lifetime deposit’ could open the door to other deposit alternatives that have come onto the market for tenants in the last few years. 

Some landlords don’t require a deposit yet are compensated by asking the tenant to pay a higher rent to cover the risk. Also, there are companies that offer insurance backed deposits where the tenant pays one week's rent to an insurance firm, and the insurance firm pays out if a loss is incurred by the landlord.

Interestingly, other countries are already offering deposit loans and guarantee schemes. Could this be something for the British Government to contemplate?

We must wait until at least the spring of 2022 for the Renter’s Reform White Paper to be published. Then every stakeholder involved (tenants, landlords and agents, et cetera) can look at it in the cold light of day and decide how this will affect the way they view the landlord/tenant/agent relationship.

Many will say the bigger issue isn’t ‘Lifetime Deposits’ in the White Paper, but the removal of no-fault Section 21 evictions. The removal of Section 21 is something the current Government have pledged to bring in during this parliamentary cycle (i.e. before Q4 2024).  

I am not concerned about removing no-fault Section 21 evictions, but what will replace it to ensure there is suitable redress for landlords if the tenant doesn't pay the rent?

Of course, a handful of Tunbridge Wells landlords will decide to sell their rental portfolio because of the White Paper. The same happened in 2016 when the increase in landlord taxes were announced.  

However, this will reduce the supply and availability of Tunbridge Wells rental properties, meaning rents will rise (classic textbook supply and demand), thus, landlords return and yields will rise.

Yet, because tenants still can’t afford to save the deposit for a home and we are all living longer, the demand for rental properties across will continue to grow in the next twenty to thirty years. The reason being we are still not building enough homes to accommodate our growing and ageing population. This means we will turn to more European ways where the norm is to rent rather than buy in their 20s and 30s. 

This means new buy-to-let landlords will be attracted into the market, buy properties for the rental market in Tunbridge Wells and enjoy those higher yields and returns. Isn't it interesting that things mostly always go full circle?