“Consent to Let”

 

For many homeowners in Tunbridge Wells, letting provides and obvious investment opportunity as an alternative to selling. With the right expert help from your letting agent, the matter should be quite straightforward, although there are certain consents that should be obtained if you are to avoid some potentially costly problems.  

You will certainly need the consent of your mortgage provider. They are unlikely to object, but you could be in breach of your mortgage terms if you have not obtained their consent before letting your property. They may also charge an “administration” fee. One important thing to check is that there is no clause that increases the interest rate on your loan should the property be used as a “commercial venture”.

If you own the freehold, you should check whether your title deeds impose any restrictive covenants of which the tenant should be aware. For example, there may be a restriction preventing anyone keeping a caravan on the forecourt, or storing building materials for more than a few days. If your property is leasehold, you will have to check the conditions of your lease as there may be similar restrictions and/or you may have to obtain the freeholder’s consent.

Importantly, once consent has been obtained, you must ensure that your tenant is aware of, and complies with, any obligations that you yourself would observe as owner in residence.

Finally, insurance. You should obtain permission from both your buildings and contents insurer. There may well be an increase in premiums where a property is let, although there are insurers who specialise in this. As a minimum you should ensure that you are covered for any third party liability in respect of injuries to your tenant whilst at your property.

Please let us know if you would like us to look over your lease or title deeds to see what consents might be required to ensure your peace of mind for a successful let you can call me on 01892 543856, or pop into the office in Tunbridge wells

Post Brexit - Royal Tunbridge Wells Property Prices set to drop £34,900 in the next 12 months?

Even the most sane person in Britain has to admit the Brexit vote will, in one shape or another, affect the UK Property market. Excluding central London which is another world, most commentators are saying prices will be affected by around 10%. So looking at the commentators’ thoughts in more detail, property values in Royal Tunbridge Wells will be 10% lower than they would have been if we hadn’t voted to leave the EU.

As the average value of a property in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area is £348,600, this means property values are set to drop for the average Royal Tunbridge Wells property by £34,860 … batten down the hatches .. soup kitchens and mega recession here we come ..it’s going to get rough.

.. but before we all go into panic mode in Royal Tunbridge Wells .. the devil is always in the detail

Look at the phrase again, and I have highlighted the relevant part “Property values in Royal Tunbridge Wells will be 10% lower than they would have been if we hadn’t voted to leave the EU”

Property values today, according to the Land Registry are 11.37% higher than a year ago in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area. The 12 months before that they rose by 7.1% and the 12 months before that, they rose by 3.9%. If we hadn’t voted to leave, I believe on these figures, we could have safely assumed Royal Tunbridge Wells House prices would have been 9% higher by the Summer of 2017.

… and that’s the point, we won’t see a house price crash in Royal Tunbridge Wells, it’s just that house prices in a years time will be 1% lower than they are now (ie 9% less the 10% lower figure because of Brexit). Let’s look at the historic figures and how that compares to today’s figures for the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area and Royal Tunbridge Wells as a whole.

Average Value of a property 20 years ago                                     £ 73,900

Average Value of a property 10 years ago                                     £237,900

Average Value of a property 2 years ago                                       £292,200

Average Value of a property 1 year ago                                          £313,000

Average Value of a property today                                                   £348,600

Projected Value of a property in 12 months’ time                           £345,100

Therefore, I believe the average value of a Royal Tunbridge Wells property will be £3,500 lower in 12 months’ time than today.

That’s not to say Royal Tunbridge Wells property prices might not dip slightly in the run up to Christmas (in fact they always have done just about every year since the year 2000 and most of those were boom years) .. but in 12 months time this is my considered opinion of where Royal Tunbridge Wells property values will be.. and looking at the historic prices, even if I (and many other property market commentators) are wrong and they drop 10% from TODAY’S figure .. in the whole scheme of things, we have been through a Credit Crunch, Black Monday and 15% interest rates over the last 20 to 30 years .. and still Royal Tunbridge Wells house prices have always bounced back.

 Whilst the UK's vote for Brexit has created an uncertainty in the Royal Tunbridge Wells housing market, there is no need to panic and prospective buyers should merely use common sense about their purchases. I always say to people to be prudent and if you are taking out a mortgage, at some stage during the life of that mortgage, circumstances will be difficult. We won’t have a 2008 Credit crunch fire sale of properties because after the Mortgage Market Review which took place in the Spring of 2013, mortgage borrowers are not as highly leveraged this time around.  As a result of this, with any luck there will not be too many distressed sales, which cause widespread price reductions.

.. and Royal Tunbridge Wells landlords? They have recently been thrashed by Osborne’s tax changes, but yields could rise if Royal Tunbridge Wells house prices fall/stablise and rents grow, and this might also make it easier to obtain mortgages, as the income would cover more of the interest cost. If prices were to level or come down that could help Royal Tunbridge Wells landlords add to their portfolio, as rental demand for Royal Tunbridge Wells property is expected to stay strong as more people find it more and more difficult to obtain mortgages.

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!