Cambridge Property Market – Life after the General Election?

After the shock of the Conservatives returning to power with a majority at Westminster, all the potential issues and possible uncertainties of a hung parliament has lifted the cloud from the Cambridge property market.  Talking to other Cambridge agents, surveyors and solicitors in the area over the last few days, there are signs this has started a new impetus the Cambridge property market after a subdued six months, when an amalgamation of tougher lending conditions, a natural correction after the strong recovery in Cambridge property prices in 2014, and political uncertainty ahead of the General Election slowed demand.

Against the back drop of Labour’s election promises of rent controls and three year tenancies, some Cambridge buy to let landlords were waiting to see how these new policies would be implemented before they committed themselves to buying more property for their  buy to let portfolio. Now that uncertainty has been removed, the long term picture is very positive.

So, with all that uncertainty now removed, where next for the Cambridge property market?  Well with inflation at zero and with the Money markets happy David Cameron is still at No.10, the Bank of England have no reason to raise interest rates until 2016 at the earliest. As mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since 2010, landlords with large deposits will now be wooed by the mortgage companies in the coming months with low rates.

You see over the past couple of years, Cambridge landlords have benefitted from a booming Cambridge job market. Unemployment in the city has dropped to 1.3%, as a year ago, 1,149 people were claiming unemployment benefit compared to today’s 760. With more jobs and better pay, as the level of rents is directly linked to tenant’s wages, there has been an increase in the rental prices tenants are willing to pay for good quality Cambridge properties.

Some landlords might be nervous about Tory’s plans for the housing market in the next five years in terms of tenant demand for their rental properties. One plan is for Housing Association tenants to have the right to buy their property. These kind of tenants were never in the private rented sector and will actually increase the supply of properties in the housing stock in decades to come. The Government ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ has only helped to buy 110 Cambridge properties since April 2013. Considering 1,539 properties have changed hands in the last year alone in Cambridge, I don’t think it has made a huge difference to our local property market.

The biggest matter, when it comes to tenant demand of rental property going forward, comes from the shift in the mindset and attitudes towards renting itself. Twenty years ago you were seen as a second class citizen if you rented a property. In Cambridge, as in the rest of the UK (apart from Central London), renting continues to offer good value for money for tenants.  If you are an existing landlord in Cambridge or thinking of becoming one (or as we like to call you .. a FTL .. a ‘first time landlord’), then I must suggest you out seek specialist advice and opinion. Like many agents in Cambridge, we will happily give you our opinion on the current state of the  market and the advantages/disadvantages to investing in the Cambridge property market if you pop into our offices. However,  if time is at a premium, another source of information on the Cambridge Property Market is the Cambridge Property Blog: http://cambridgeproperty.blogspot.co.uk/

Stunning apartment with a 4.3% yield within a highly sought after block in Cambridge.

It's not often I get excited with investment properties with a yield of 4.3% but this one is a must see.
On the market with Bush this 1 bedroom apartment is for sale for offers in the region of £365,000. I hear you say "Well that's a lot of money for a 1 bedroom apartment" and my reply would simply be have you seen the potential that these apartments have to offer?

I have a few of these on my books and I can tell you that these apartments simply do not stay empty, boasting a concierge service, tenant only swimming pool, sauna and gym and extremely well kept and secure garden areas these apartments are highly sought after within the rental market reaching a monthly rental of £1300pcm

Not to mention the possibility of letting these as holiday lets, increasing your yield and making these truly hot properties.

For more information on this please see: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47191045.html

5 bedroom terraced investors dream in Cambridge

 

Looking through Rightmove today I have stumbled upon this little gem. Ok it's not so little but it certainly is a gem of a property.
Up for sale with Bush for offers in the region of £395,000 this appears too good to be true and looking through the pictures I can see that you may have to have a few of the rooms dulled down a little but generally all the aspects of a great rental property are already there.
This property boasts a great kitchen, good sized bedrooms and a large garden so once painted neutral it would certainly gain the attention of potential tenants with ease earning you around £2300pcm.
So if you was to offer the full asking price then you could be potentially making a yield of 7% - And that's if you offer the full price?

Please see the following link for all pictures: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51995420.html

Cambridge Property Investment with an instant 6% Yeild.

This 4 bedroom terraced house is for sale with Tucker Gardner for £400,000 and is situated in the fantastic rental location of Milton road in central Cambridge. This property is situated perfectly to capture all genres of tenants and has just been fully refurbished in neutral colours making it the perfect rental property for the Cambridge market.
This property would rent for around £2000pcm with the location being key, This property is directly between the city centre and the Cambridge Science Park making it perfect for the working professional or students alike.
With a property like this you will never be without a tenant as long as you get your prices right.
For internal pictures please see: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34308267.html

Cambridge Buy To Let Landlords Get A 1166% Return Since 1999

 

Buy to let is essentially different from investing in stocks and shares or putting money in the Building Society. Whilst these other investments (Building Society Passbooks, Stocks and Shares etc) are passive  ie once the  money has been invested it you leave it alone, with buy to let, things are more hands on, in fact it’s almost a business. One thing the landlords I speak to say is the fact that they like buy to let because it is both an investment as well as a business. It is this factor that attracts many of my Cambridge landlords – they are making their own decisions rather than entrusting them to others (such as City Whiz Kidz in London playing roulette with their Pension Pot).

So if you are investing in the Cambridge property market, you can earn from your investment in two ways. When a property increases in value over time, it is known as 'capital growth'. Capital growth, also known as capital appreciation, this has been strong in recent times in Cambridge, but the value of property does go up as well as down just like shares do but the initial purchase price rarely decreases.  Rental income is what the tenant pays you - hopefully this will grow over time. If you divide the annual rent into the value (or purchase price) of the property, this is your yield, or annual return.

I was talking to a landlord who bought a maisonette in the Verulam Way area of Cambridge. He bought a very pleasant 2 bed maisonette in 1999 for £59,000. It sold again in February just gone for £231,000, a rise of 291.52% in just over 15 years – a compound annual return of 9.53%

However, the real returns are for those Cambridge landlords who borrowed money to purchase their buy to let property. They have made significantly higher returns than those who paid 100% cash. If the landlord had borrowed 75% of the £59,000 purchase price of the Verulam Way maisonette on an interest only 75% mortgage, he would have only needed to invest £14,750 (as his 25% deposit... borrowing the remaining £44,250), but his £59,000 would be worth today, £186,750  (£231,000 less £44,250 interest only mortgage)... a rise of 1166.10% - a compound annual return of 18.44%... and I haven’t even mentioned the rent he would have received in those 15 years!

This demonstrates how the Cambridge buy to let market has not only provided very strong returns for average investors since 1999 but how it has permitted a group of motivated buy to let Cambridge landlords to become particularly wealthy. In fact, if this landlord had continued to remortgage the property as it went up in value, he could by our reckoning have had an additional two or three properties (albeit with larger mortgages but greater future potential).

As my article mentioned a few weeks ago, more and more Cambridge people may be giving up on owning their own home and are instead accepting long term renting whilst buy to let lending continues to grow from strength to strength. If you want to know what (and would not) make a decent property to buy in Cambridge for buy to let, then one place for such information would be the Cambridge Property Blog.

Great investment property situated in Fulbourn Old Drift with a 5.4% yield.

This semi-detached property is on the market with our friends Sharman Quinney for offers in the region of £400,000. Now a property of this quality would generally rent for around £1800pcm however boasting 4 bedrooms and a good location you could also go down the route of letting to sharers and potentially increasing you rental amount to as much as £2200pcm giving you a yield of between 5.4% and 5.8% and that's if you pay the full asking amount?

This property is of a great standard and would be ready to let instantly, Check out the rest of the pictures I think you'll be pleasantly impressed.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34262529.html?premiumA=true

Are Attitudes to Home Ownership changing in Cambridge?

Speaking to a Bank Manager the other day in Cambridge, we got talking about the state of the Cambridge property market and whether we, as a Country, are turning more and more to the European style of property ownership, where it is the norm to rent as a opposed to automatically buying once you have a good job etc.

Even though a recent report by the Halifax stated homeownership remains a goal for 85% of twenty to forty five year olds, there is information emerging that attitudes in the UK towards renting your own home as opposed to owning it have softened, showing more and more, that renting is being seen as a life style choice.  In fact it is recognised in learned circles that the cycle of renting is also repeated by the fact that people who grow up primarily in rented accommodation are themselves more likely to rent than buy.

The biggest barrier often mentioned to buying a house is the claim that they are not buying property at the moment because of a lack of sufficient wages and by the high level of deposits in Cambridge, if a couple, both on the average Cambridge salary of £31,036 pa, assuming they had a reasonable credit history they would be showered with lenders offering them a 95% mortgage (a reasonable credit history means they haven’t defaulted on loans, paid all their bills on time nor got any County Court Judgements. Just because you missed just one credit card payment won’t mean you have messed up your credit score and your ability to get a mortgage) and they would need to find a sizeable, but nothing stratospheric, £12,800 as a deposit to buy a decent two bed town house or a very nice modern two bed apartment...  it comes down to the perceived capability of the youngsters in Cambridge to buy nowadays.

Interestingly, when I looked at the Cambridge figures, the average Cambridge tenant has a much younger profile than the English and Welsh average (the sub 24 year old can be partly explained by University, but it is the 25 to 34 year olds that are the surprise), as can be seen from the graph below.

So what does all this mean for Cambridge landlords and future Cambridge landlords? I honestly believe there is a difference between the hope and perceived capability of the younger generation to buy a home. Although homeownership is seen as advantageous by a majority, many tenants admitted in the Halifax report they are not taking the steps they need to purchase their own home

As the local authority aren’t building any properties in Cambridge, people still need a roof over the head, and that is why, as I mentioned a few weeks ago in the Cambridge Property Blog, the demand for rental properties will only continue to steadily rise in the coming decade. If want to know where the Cambridge Property market is heading and where you should (and shouldn’t buy), maybe the one place you should visit is the Cambridge Property Blog http://cambridgeproperty.blogspot.co.uk/or send me an email to cambridge@northwooduk.com

  

4 bedroom detached house for sale with a yield of over 5%

This perfect investment property is up for sale with Haart for £450,000 and boasts 4 large bedrooms which are perfect for letting to working professionals, sharers or a family making this property great for capturing tenants.

This property also boasts location being situated close to Cambridge's main and extremely popular Addenbrookes Hospital and has a low maintenance garden making this the perfect let. Being decorated to a great standard and having large rooms all round this property would let for around the £2,000pcm mark with a potential to reach higher giving you a minimum yield of 5.3%

To see more images of this great property investment please see:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45250654.html

Your Pension could now buy you a Buy to Let property in Cambridge

In a recent article, I mentioned that pension rules are changing this April. It certainly created a few emails, with people asking questions about it. Therefore, this week, I want to look a little deeper into the subject of your pension and the Cambridge property market. George Osbourne, in last years’ Budget, announced pension reforms that come into effect this April, which will give people with pensions unprecedented access to their pension pot and the freedom to look for alternatives.
In a nutshell, after the 6^th of April, anyone aged over 55 will be allowed to withdraw all or part of their pension pot and spend it as they wish. Until now, you were allowed to take out a quarter of it and were forced to buy an annuity policy with the rest.

However, my readers always know that I like to tell it ‘as it is’. There are always two sides to a story, good and bad. Let me tell you the bad news first. There are some hefty tax implications by taking money from your pension pot. As before, as per the old rules, the first 25% can still be withdrawn from the pension pot tax free but, here is the sting in the tail, if you take more than a quarter of your pot (25%), anything above that initial 25% level will be taxed as income. So if you took the whole lot out, the first 25% will be tax free but the remaining 75% will be taxed at your income tax rate of 20%, 40% (or even 45% if you earn over £150,000 a year) .
.. and now the good news!

Under the old scheme, if you bought an annuity, when you died your annuity normally died as well. You would have no asset to pass on to your family. Also, the returns from pensions are awful at the moment. The best rates according to Hargreaves and Lansdown (big wigs in the City) state if you were 55 years old, the best rate you would get on your annuity pension would be 4.4% fixed for life (so it would never go up) or 2.2% but the payment would go up with inflation.  The sort of rates (also known as yields in the property investing game) being achieved in Cambridge are in the order of 3% to 5.5%.
The other aspect of property investment is how the fact property values have risen consistently over the last 50 years.  According to the Office of National Statistics, the life expectancy of a 65 year old male in Cambridge is 18 years and 9 months (its only 18 years 1 months in Peterborough). If we roll the clock back 18 years 9 months to June 1996, property values in Cambridge have risen by 209.5% to today .. you wouldn’t have had that with your pension!   But this is the biggest win, even by taking a hit in income tax now,  by buying a property, you buy an asset that you can pass on to your family when you die.... (or the cats home if they aren’t nice to you!).

So where next? It totally depends which strategy you are going to look at, one strategy is to look to achieve relatively small rental returns (ie low yields) in an up market area which has decent capital growth or, alternatively, another strategy is to buy properties in not so good areas known to produce a high returns (ie high yields) but low capital growth (ie how much the value of the property goes up). Now, I am not financial advisor, so cannot offer financial advice on what the best thing for you with your pension is. However, I can share my knowledge and experience of the Cambridge property market, what to buy, what not to buy and where to buy etc etc.  My thoughts on the Cambridge Property market can always be found on the Cambridge Property Blog  http://cambridgeproperty.blogspot.co.uk/

They Dont Make Them Like They Used To...Fen Ditton Investment.

The title is absolutely true and this Three Bed in Ditton Fields is such a good example of that. It offers bigger reception space and bigger bedrooms well as a fantastic sized garden compared to anything built after its era. On the market with Tucker Gardner it would not need anything doing to it and would rent at £1200, the asking price is £285,000 so expect a yield of 4.8%. Not bad considering it would rarely be empty due to location.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/35686154

No. Of Cambridge Rental Properties Set To Rise To 14,800 By 2021

I was having an interesting chat the other day with a couple of solicitors at a Cambridge business networking event, when the subject of a lack of property for first time buyers came into the conversation.  I followed the chat up with an email with my findings, findings that I would like to share with you today.

At the time of the last census in 2011, 3,401,675 properties in England were privately rented, of which it is estimated,  over 1.25 million were owned by private landlords. The rapid growth of buy-to-let is hugely controversial, especially as only ten years before that, there were only 1,798,864 properties under private renting in England. Buy to let landlords have been held responsible for forcing up property prices and preventing our younger generations from being able to buy. There is also growing resentment toward the billions of pounds in tax relief (estimated to be nearly £10 billion) landlords claim on their mortgage interest -tax relief which is not available to homeowners.

They may be asset rich thanks to recently rising property values, but let us not make the landlords the bogiemen they could easily be. Despite all these benefits enjoyed by private landlords, let us not forget the good they have done, especially in Cambridge.

Property values today in Cambridge are still 4.5% below the 2007 property boom levels (2007 being the peak of last property boom before everything dropped in 2008/9), yet inflation has risen by 26% in the same time frame, so in real terms, properties today are 21.5% CHEAPER than they were in 2007. Just think how low they would be without landlords buying all those rental properties in the city. Interest rates are at an all time low and first time buyers only need to save a £8,000 deposit to secure a lovely 1 bed apartment in the Southeast Cambridge area  with a 95% mortgage. Forget what the papers say, first time buyers can borrow money relatively easily on a 95% mortgage and nine times out of ten, it’s cheaper to buy than rent. So why aren’t people buying?

The number of people choosing to rent, either for lifestyle or economic reasons, has grown over the last 15 years. I also believe they will continue to grow for some time to come (as does every report on the subject). In fact I would go as far to predict the number of rental properties in Cambridge will have risen from the 11,170 properties recorded in 2011 to 14,800 by 2021. Sounds fanciful? Well in 2001, there were only 7,295 privately rented properties in Cambridge.

It is a fact that we as a Country are more and more turning into a European model when it comes to homeownership, where the norm is renting for the first ten years, as opposed to the norm from the 1960’s to 1990’s, where first time buyers were encouraged to buy as soon as they got a job.

Tenants, in particular, will also feel the benefit from potential changes in the market. The likelihood of interest rate increases in late 2015, existing economic conditions, combined with the uncertainty of new Government manifestos following the General Election in May will result in low demand for people to buy yet also put a dampening effect on increases in rent. As long as landlords buy the right sort of property, that allows for a reasonable yield, decent capital growth, everyone will be a winner. If want a  chat about what would make the best sort  a property that would offer that in Cambridge, then please email me on cambridge@northwooduk.com 

  

 

Fully Refurbished 1 Bedroom Apartment

 

Offered for sale by our friends "my online estate agent" is this one bedroom apartment that is absolutely stunning inside. It is newly built and has been advertised for students as the location is absolutely on point ! so why not buy it and rent it to those students who want quality but don't have the deposit to buy? Achieving £1100 pcm if you move quickly and get it for the asking price that's a 7.3% yield, before you say it YES you do have lease charges but even after this you still have a great investment.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36303309

Cambridge Property Values .. the long climb back to 2007 values

 

 Some landlords have been speaking to me recently about stories in the press and their concerns about local property market. They have been concerned that property values seem rather high and were worried about paying too much for their next buy to let property. In the past few years, if you were going to be buying in Cambridge, it was vital to ensure you build in some capital growth by buying cheaply or finding a way to add value.

As my regular readers of the Cambridge Property Blog will note, the most important consideration you will make before investing in property is the balance between annual return/yield and the annual value increase/capital growth. However, what affects those two things (yield and capital growth) in Cambridge are very varied and complex. The quantity of property and whether property is owner occupied, social housing (posh words for council housing) or private renting has a big difference on yield and capital growth. Interestingly, property values in Cambridge have increased by an impressive 10.2% in the last 12 months.  So are properties too expensive?

Looking at the market and looking at every property sale in Cambridge that sold in 2007 and again in the last few months of 2014, property values are on average 29.5% higher today in Cambridge than they were in 2007 (the peak of last property boom), even more impressive when you consider they dropped by 19.4% in 2008/9. On the face of it, a 10.2% increase over the last 12 months in Cambridge property values is notable, especially as those same property values are 29.5% higher than the boom of 2007.  Surely this suggests properties are too expensive in Cambridge?

Well, the answer is both Yes and No.

Yes, the headline sales price that Cambridge property is currently selling for, is 29.5% higher than 2007, yet No, because these headline sales price figures don't take into account inflation. Since 2007, inflation has been around 26.2%. So instead of property values being 29.5% more expensive than the 2007 boom, they are in fact only 3.3% more expensive than the boom in real terms (29.5% house price growth less 26.2% inflation equates to the 3.3%). People think inflation is a bad thing, eating away at the real value of your savings. It can however, be advantageous to property investors. 

 My answer to landlords is get the best advice and opinion you can. Speak to me, speak to others, do your homework and drive a hard bargain when buying, thus ensuring when prices do start to rise again, you are in pole position.

 

 

 

Balsham Investment offering 5.5 % Yield !

A fantastic three bedroom semi detached property on Mays Ave has just came on with Kevin Henry. It is very spacious and you could literally move straight in. There is no chain and has utility room, downstairs toilet and enclosed rear garden. It will rent at £1300and even if you paid full asking price you would have a 5.5% yield, grab a bargain before its gone !!

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36171430

Fen Ditton with a comfortable 5% Yield

 

 

 

A three bedroom character property is on the market with Leaders, it offers huge potential with three double bedrooms and two reception rooms you will not struggle to instantly rent this one. It is located on the outskirts of Fen Ditton and is on the market for £299,995. The rent should achieve £1300 a month giving a comfortable yield of 5%.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36223240

Auction Properties are worth a look.

 

 

I think nowadays people are under the impression that auction properties are not a great idea, because you could end up in a bidding war and potentially over pay for something, my opinion on it is KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

 

So set yourself a floor and ceiling price and see how it goes, after all what have you got to lose? Your ceiling price still delivers a yield you will be happy with and anything from the ground up is a bonus?

 

Check out the link below, this Studio Flat on Alpha Road is basic don't get me wrong but the location is absolute prime. Returning a yield of 4.7% at my realistic ceiling price within the auction and potential to rise to the sky dependant on how good at negotiating at auctions you are (or how much the other person is willing to pay of course)

 

The market is heating up now and we are going to have lots of deals becoming available so watch this space

 

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36186939

 

 

 

 

 

The way it works is, you have to rent where you want to live, or buy where you don’t want to live

 

 

After the end of the Second World War, just over a Quarter of the UK population owned their own home, the rest rented from private landlords or the local Council. If someone told you in the 1970’s and 1980’s that they rented, they were considered a second class citizen. Everyone wanted to own their own home .. it was the done thing We think that home ownership will inevitably happen, but it won't.

It all changed in the 1970’s, when two things happened. Firstly, the number of people who owned their own home broke through the 50% barrier in 1971 and by 1981 it was at 57%. Tied in with that, the average house prices in Cambridge were doubling at one point every four years in the 1970’s so property and profit started to feed off each other.

 To put that growth in context, if we were to look at the last 85 years in Cambridge, in 1930, the average Cambridge property was worth £725. It took 16 years for Cambridge property values to double, rising to £1,792 by 1946. Another 15 years and the average Cambridge property doubled again to £3,402 in 1961. The next doubling only took 10 years, as by 1971, the average Cambridge property had reached £6,918 in value.

It was (as mentioned above) the 1970’s when things really took off, as by 1975 (ie only four years) they had doubled to £14,478 and they doubled again to £28,982 by 1980. It took another eight years for values to double again, as an average Cambridge property reached £60,622 in 1988. Twelve years had to pass until the doubled again in 2000 (£124,731) and just six years to double again by 2006, when they reached £251,567.  Where are we today? The average property value in Cambridge currently stands at £372,400

 We could blame Maggie Thatcher for making home ownership the ultimate goal, but what we now to need to consider that the country is turning on its head and we need to, as a Country,  love renting again. Some blame the banks, but obtaining a 95% mortgage is hard work, but nowhere near impossible. A typical Cambridge first time buyer would only need to save £12,500 for a deposit and they could buy a very decent 1960’s three up two down in Arbury in Cambridge, and it would be over £100 cheaper a month in mortgage payments (on a 40 year mortgage) than renting.

People might say on the surveys they want to buy, when it comes down to it. If you living been living in a lovely two bed apartment in Trumpington for £1100 per month, or even a lovely Victorian terraced in a hip and trendy area of Cambridge for not much more per month, but the bank will only lend you enough to buy a town house in Arbury, and don’t get me wrong, Arbury has really pulled its socks up over the last ten years, but it isn’t Trumpington, is it? What would you do? Look again the title of the post ... “The way it works is, you have to rent where you want to live, or buy where you don’t want to live,”

 That is why more and more people are getting into buy to let in Cambridge. With the new rules on pensions and the ability to use them to buy residential rental properties from April onwards, this could be the time for you to buy a rental property. You must take advice on your pension from a Independent Financial Advisor (there are plenty in Cambridge) and you must take advice from people who know what to buy (and not to buy) in Cambridge to ensure you get the best from your investment. One place for such advice is the Cambridge Property Blog  http://cambridgeproperty.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

A New Breed of Silver Landlord Has Arrived

 

 

Thanks to changes in pension regulations coming into effect in April people aged 55 and over will be able to access part or all of their pension pot.  At a time when stocks remain volatile and interest rates are low, the prospect of owning a rental property that provides both a regular income and appreciates in value has much appeal.

It is no surprise that the upcoming changes in legislation are encouraging a new breed of landlord. Recent research revealed that 1 in 3 people aged 45 to 64 with a pension would consider using some or all of their pension to fund a buy to let property as an alternative to a more traditional pension fund. These potential landlords – popularly labelled as ‘silver landlords’ have quite widely varying reasons for investing in property with nearly 43% interested in a regular income. Some 23% are attracted by the perceived security of the investment and 17% by the expected capital appreciation

The UK private rented sector (PRS) has seen significant growth in the last two decades, having doubled since 1996. There are now an estimated two million private landlords in the UK who own and rent out 4.4 million homes – that’s almost one in five homes across the country.

I have been seeing a lot of interest from potential silver landlords looking for an appropriate Buy to Let investment. In response to the new legislation the opportunity for those approaching retirement to invest in property are opening up in a way that has never been possible before.

Encouraged by both steady gains in capital appreciation of property and increasing tenant demand, it’s easy to understand why Buy to Let is considered an attractive alternative to the more traditional pension funds. However, whilst many potential silver landlords will appreciate the basic concept of investing in bricks and mortar, it is vital to understand that any property purchased for rental purposes needs to be treated as the investment it is.

The key to successfully letting out a property is to find the tenant demand first and then the property that will meet that demand. This is where the expertise of an experienced, knowledgeable local agent is invaluable.  So why not pop in and see me at our office on the Mill Road and I’ll be happy to look over any properties you are considering…… guide you on the locations that are worth investing in, and give you an estimate of the rental income you could achieve.

Cambridge.. good time to buy property?

Ok, a slight turn of phrase there on the classic, an Englishman’s home is his castle but when it comes to the UK  the ‘Brit’s are still a nation of homeowners ‘(although wasn’t it Napoleon who thought we were all shop keepers!). It  is interesting to note that up until the mid to late 1960’s, more people rented their home (albeit mostly from the local council) than owned their own. In fact, I was surprised to read that in 1921, over 75% of homes in England and Wales were privately rented with the remaining 25% being owner occupied. 

 It was only after the Second World War, when the Beatles were rocking, that people started to buy instead of rent .. but instead of owning our property outright, we borrowed money from banks and building society’s to buy them and the roots of the growth of the private rental sector can be drawn back to the late 1970’s early 1980’s, when the council houses began to be sold off under the right to buy scheme. Even though 22,443 households in Cambridge were owner occupied in 2001 and that number had only dropped to 22,171 households by 2011, the percentage of homeowner properties in Cambridge dropped drastically from 52.6% to 47.4%.  Why, because whilst an additional 4,056 properties were built in Cambridge between 2001 and 2011, a lot of them were bought as buy to let investments, thus more than doubling the number of private rental properties in Cambridge. In fact, the number of properties in Cambridge, that were privately rented jumped from 7,295 in 2001 to 11,170 in 2011!

 With stagnation in the number of people who own their home in Cambridge and no more council houses being built, this is increasing the number of people looking to renting, as everyone needs a roof over their head. With the Cambridge City Council house waiting lists being in the 5 to 10 year range for a decent property in a decent location, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it is Cambridge landlords who house tenants waiting for a council house. Cambridge landlords do not receive any subsidies from HMRC and income tax is paid on rent paid by the tenant combined these reduce the cost on the tax payer.

 However, it’s not all doom and gloom in Cambridge, as we have noticed more and more of the younger generation are renting because they can‘t afford to buy (raising a deposit being the sticking point for most), and a high percentage of the expansion in private renting actually from those who need and want temporary accommodation. There are even a few landlords who rent their own Cambridge property out for the short term, for ease, and not necessarily purely for profit.

 Therefore, with every report stating the rental market will continue to grow throughout the rest of this decade, with high demand and limited supply in the Cambridge, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future in Cambridge, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. If you are a landlord, new or old, I am certainly more than happy for you to pick up the phone or visit the Cambridge Property Blog  www.cambridgepropertyblog.com

1 bedroom in Trumpington with a 9.43% return.

On the market with Tucker Gardner is this rare opportunity to purchase something that has CB in the postcode for less than stamp duty that isn't shared ownership. Perfect for a quick rental as no work required which makes the asking price even more appealing. Grab yourself a bargain and rent it at £800 a month and you will net a 9.43% yield, take out some for lease charges and you will still be quid's in.



                                   http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36075125