What does the Autumn Statement mean for property sellers in Southampton and Portsmouth?

Last month’s Autumn Statement contained a number of revelations, not least for the property industry. Just like last year, stamp duty took centre stage from a property perspective with Chancellor George Osborne announcing that there would be a 3% increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let investors and second home buyers.

This comes hot on the heels of Osborne’s announcement in July’s Budget that buy-to-let investors would be hit with higher taxes. These changes to buy-to-let mortgage interest relief are set to be phased in over the next few years, with this additional increase in stamp duty implemented from April 2016.

The Chancellor insists that the new system will contribute approximately £1 billion to the Treasury by 2021. The money will be subsequently reinvested into the government’s plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes as well as its proposals to extend Right to Buy to housing association tenants.

The other main property-related news to come from the Autumn Statement was confirmation of the government’s extensive housebuilding programme. Some £4 billion will be ploughed into 135,000 new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership homes, in a continuation of the government’s flagship scheme from their first term.

In addition, £2 billion will be directed towards property developers to help fund the Starter Homes programme. This initiative will see the creation of new homes specifically for first-time buyers, who will be granted a 20% price discount against current market rates.   

Lastly, the government says it will put £200 million towards the funding of 10,000 new homes, homes that tenants will be able to live in for up to five years paying sub-market rents. These tenants will then have first dibs on buying the property in future.

But what do all these changes mean for sellers? With investors and second home buyers thinking twice about buying because of higher stamp duty, first and second time buyers may be more encouraged by their prospects of purchasing in a less crowded market. Also, with an emphasis on starter homes and affordability, first-time buyers are one demographic that is being heavily targeted by the government.

As a seller in Southampton or Portsmouth, you could potentially take advantage of this fact by tailoring your home towards first and second time buyers.

Furthermore, investors will be eager to push through transactions before the higher stamp duty charges come into play on April 1 next year. This, again, is positive news for sellers. Buyers who are looking to force through sales quickly are a dream for sellers, because they’re less likely to stall and play hardball on negotiations. This means house sales going through much more quickly and the chances of you achieving your asking price or above much higher.

In Southampton and Portsmouth, we frequently see buyers who are priced out of the city heading for the South Coast for more affordable housing. This doesn’t look like changing, despite the measures announced in the Autumn Statement, so sellers in these areas should be confident of continued high demand.

Buy-to-let investors in this part of the world will be looking to act early as well, so sellers should make sure they are well prepared in terms of their sales strategy, their marketing material and the presentation of their homes as attractive, clean, homely and welcoming.

At ChimneyPots we’ll do all we can to help you get your property sold. Check out our tips on selling a home for more info on how we can do that.   

If you would like to get in contact with us, please call 01489 584298. To find out how much your property could be worth in the current marketplace, check out our free instant online valuation tool.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/what-does-the-autumn-statement-mean-for-property-sellers-in-southampton-and-portsmouth/ 

Why your spare room could increase the value of your home

It’s often overlooked and neglected, but the much unloved spare room can actually be a key part of your property sales pitch.

The majority of households have one but it is regularly seen as a room that is just there, an unnecessary add-on, a room with no proper function. This needn’t be the case. Granted, the spare room is often the smallest room in most properties, but by being creative and clever with space it can be converted into anything you want.

Below, using our experience as estate agents working across the South of England, we highlight a few possible options…

Extra bedroom

The most obvious choice but also the one that makes the most sense, even more so since George Osborne announced in his most recent Budget that the tax-free Rent-a-Room limit has been raised from £4,250 to £7,500. It doesn’t take much time, effort or money to turn the spare room into a bedroom – a quick lick of paint, a bed, a chest of drawers, a desk and office chair, etc. These can be sourced second hand, through up-cycling or by asking friends and families if they have any of these items that they don’t need anymore.

When the buyer views your home, be sure to mention to them that letting out the spare room as a bedroom could bring them in a useful second income.

Home office

Probably the most popular use for many spare rooms, transforming it into an office space is a cost-effective and shrewd idea. Office chairs and desks can be purchased for reasonable prices if you shop around a bit, while a shelf for books and files won’t take too much time or money to put up. If you are selling to buyers who are planning to work from home – an increasingly popular choice in this day and age – then a home office will have significant appeal. As well as that, it’s a place for kids to do their homework and students to complete their studies.

Creating a relaxed and comfortable working environment won’t cost the earth and it will definitely add to the strength of your sales pitch.

Home gym

Fitness is big business these days and home gyms are becoming more and more popular. Young professionals, more than any other demographic, are eager to keep trim and might find the prospect of a home gymnasium the most appealing. That’s not to say that you have to fit your spare room out with expensive, state-of-the-art equipment –a bit of research and clever spending can help you to give the room identity without crushing your bank balance. An exercise mat and dumbbells are cheap and easy to get hold of, while second hand exercise bikes and other pieces of gym equipment can be sourced for reasonable price.

You don’t even necessarily have to have these things in place; you just have to show would-be buyers how your spare room could quite easily be turned into a home gym. Help them to visualise by giving the room a stripped-back, minimalist vibe.

There are other ways to utilise your spare room – a kids playroom, for example – but the key thing is to utilise it. Don’t ignore it, don’t be ashamed of it, don’t hide it away. It might not be your property’s main selling point, but it’s still a selling point. Making the most of every room in your property won’t do your sales pitch any harm.

For more information about selling and letting property in Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester, contact ChimneyPots on 08448 099931. We also provide an instant online valuation tool to give you an accurate idea of how much your property is worth in the current marketplace.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/why-your-spare-room-could-increase-the-value-of-your-home/ 

Why Hampshire is the perfect location for selling property

We’ve previously written about why Southampton is the best location for buy-to-let investors. Now we take a look at why the county of Hampshire as a whole is the perfect selling location.

When it comes to selling your property, location is likely to be a major factor in your success. Nine times out of ten buyers will be after a house in a safe and welcoming area. Good transport links and local amenities are also vital, while quality of life and green space will probably be other key considerations.

On these measures, Hampshire scores highly. It offers both urban and rural living, both busy seaside cities and isolated villages. In other words, there’s something for everyone. And even in the cities, life tends to be slightly less hectic than in truly massive metropolises like London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Residents of Southampton and Portsmouth can enjoy a good mixture of history, culture and leisure opportunities, as well as a raft of high-quality restaurants and bars – plus, of course, the added bonus of a beach on your doorstep during the summer.

As we’ve written about before, young professionals and families are deserting the capital in their droves, driven out by impossibly high prices and a lack of hope that they’ll ever be able to afford to buy. Hampshire, which is close enough to London for commuters but far away enough to offer a more relaxed, laid-back pace of life, is an obvious destination for would-be buyers to escape to.

Hampshire is very well-connected, with major cities like Southampton and Portsmouth and smaller cities like Winchester all providing relatively fast services to London. You can be at London Waterloo in 1hr 17m from Southampton Central, while Winchester to Waterloo takes just over an hour.

With Southampton being crowned as the ultimate buy-to-let destination by HSBC recently (Portsmouth was also in the top 10), sellers in Hampshire have a large pool of investors to target their property towards. Naturally, when it comes to selling your home, the more people you have to sell to, the better your chances of achieving your asking price (or above).

The county is also a hotbed for universities – meaning, in turn, a significant student population. That means plenty of young people looking for accommodation. As a result, landlords are attracted to stock near to campuses or city centres. If you own a property in these areas, there’s a good chance landlords will be knocking at your door to expand their portfolio.

When carrying out viewings, don’t be afraid to use location as one of your main selling points. Wax lyrical about the area you live in, whether that’s the stunning landscape of the New Forest or the South Downs, the architectural and historic interest of Winchester and Portsmouth, or the various cultural activities on offer in Southampton.

Furthermore, the average property value in Hampshire’s two biggest cities make for good reading for sellers – in Southampton the typical asking price currently stands at around the £250,000 mark, while in Portsmouth it is closer to £235,000. This means that buyers are unlikely to be put off, but it also ensures that you are more likely to be achieving a fair and reasonable price for your property.

For further advice on selling property in Hampshire, please contact ChimneyPots on 08448 099931. We also provide an instant online valuation tool to give you an accurate idea of how much your property is worth.

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Southampton sellers benefit as asking prices hit highest ever level

Property asking prices have reached a new record high of £286,133, according to Rightmove’s latest House Price Index. This is £4,351 more than the previous high set in June 2014.

Ever-growing demand for houses, underlined by Rightmove recording its busiest ever month for traffic in March, is further good news for sellers in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The property portal saw page visits go up by nearly 20% year-on-year last month, to more than 115 million. This record spring activity suggests that the traditional house price bounce at this time of the year is not being affected by the upcoming election. Demand is higher than ever, even with uncertainty over who will form the next government and what this will mean for housing policy.

The south of the country, in particular, has benefitted most from rising house prices in the five years since the last general election in May 2010. In Greater London, the South East, the east of England and the South West, the average price of property coming to the market has increased by £84,874 (+27.5%) – music to the ears of sellers in southern cities such as Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth.

This south east region – a favourite among commuters as you can be in London in 90 minutes or less – has also witnessed ‘new seller’ asking prices go up by £62,105 (+20.0%) in the last five years. With demand high and supply drastically low, sellers have been placed in a strong bargaining position. There is no need for sellers to panic or undervalue – they can afford to bide their time and not rush into hasty decisions.

With the economy picking up and people feeling more positive about their own finances, the forecasts for the housing market this year are being realigned to indicate something more optimistic. Despite fears over the effect the election would have on prices, Rightmove’s latest data would appear to suggest this hasn't materialised.

Furthermore, as we wrote about in a previous blog, buy-to-let investors are turning their backs on London and seeking higher rental yields in places outside the capital. Of course, more buy-to-let investors looking to snap up properties results in a larger pool of prospective buyers for sellers.

At ChimneyPots we believe exposure through the national portals is the best way of getting your property seen by the widest possible audience. As Rightmove’s latest traffic figures show, heading online is the first port of call for many buyers when they start their property search. The reach and depth of the portals cannot be underestimated.

For more advice and guidance on buying and selling property in Southampton, Portsmouth and the surrounding areas, please contact us on 08448 099931. Additionally, our instant online valuation tool will give you an accurate idea of what your property is worth in the current market.

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Southampton the top location for buy-to-let investors

Buy-to-let investments, especially in areas with high numbers of young professionals and students, are a pretty safe bet in the current climate. With more and more people now renting for the long-term, as a landlord you will have a greater pool of tenants to choose from. In turn, this means you can achieve higher rental yields and reduce your chances of encountering those dreaded void periods.

However, according to recent research carried out by HSBC, it’s important to bear in mind that when it comes to letting property out rental incomes depend greatly on location. While London might seem like the ‘promised land’ when it comes to property, this is not actually the case with buy-to-let.

Rental yields in some parts of the capital are as low as 2.7% thanks to property prices soaring in London’s most affluent areas. Even the traditionally cheaper areas, such as East London and parts of South East London, are becoming less and less affordable as the capital’s property market continues to operate on another level to the rest of the country. Although London has significant demand and high rents, this doesn’t transfer to good returns for investors because property values are also very high.

As estate and letting agents in Portsmouth working across the south of England, we were delighted to see that Southampton came top in HSBC’s research on the highest rents for buy-to-let investors. Rental yields – in other words the annual return you make on your property, calculated by dividing a property’s price by the yearly rent – are as high as 8.73% in Hampshire’s largest city. Nearby Portsmouth, another area we cover at ChimneyPots, also made the top 10, with rental yields of 6.5%.

Both Southampton and Portsmouth are big university towns with considerable student populations. This makes them a popular choice for investors and landlords because the student accommodation market is very reliable and consistent, if not without risk. Landlords based away from London are also witnessing the benefits of young professionals and young families deserting the capital for more affordable towns and cities, where rents are cheaper and quality of living is often higher.

Also, for those working in London who are happy to commute, Southampton and Portsmouth are not as far away from the capital as some might think (1hr 17m from Southampton Central to London Waterloo; 1hr 33m from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo). With houses relatively affordable in these two cities, and decent rents still being commanded (the average rent in Southampton is £901), you can be pretty confident of getting good returns on your investment.

As rental growth continues to rise in 2015, yields are expected to increase marginally this year, too. As such, now is as good a time as any to consider a buy-to-let purchase.

If you would like more advice on letting your property, please contact us on: 0844 809 993. Additionally, we provide an instant online valuation to show how much you could be renting your property for.

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