Latest Land Registry shows a continuing rise in prices

The January report from the Land Registry has just been issued showing a continuing rise in prices for Hampshire and Wiltshire although there is a variance in the average house price for the two areas.

Both Hampshire and Wiltshire have shown a monthly increase in house prices of 0.3% for January whereas the annual price increases differ with Hampshire showing an increase of 8.8% while Wiltshire shows a lower increase of 6.3%.  However, the average house price for Wiltshire currently stands at £198,997 whereas in Hampshire this increases to £233,651.

The report also shows that repossessions are on the decline.  The latest figures available cover August to November 2014 and show an average of 764 repossessions per month which compares with 1242 per month for the same period the previous year.

Land Registry reports a slower market

The September report from the Land Registry showed that the rising of house prices is slowing.  The report for September, released this week, shows that the average price of a house in England and Wales is now £177,299.  This is down by 0.2% on the previous month although up by 7.2% on the same time last year.

The figures for Hampshire are slightly better with the average house price higher at £228,020 with the monthly difference standing at 0.8% and the yearly figure showing an increase of 7.7% from the same point last year.

A positive note from the report showed that repossessions were down compared to the same period last year.  In the months of April to July 2014 repossessions averaged 890 per month across the country compared to 1324 in the same period last year.  On the whole repossessions would appear to be on a downward trend.

Bargains on Burghclere Down

A landlord became ever more curious about the Burghclere Down Buy to Let market after reading our newsletters about various areas of Andover, so decided to pop in and ask our advice.

I found that a fairly typical four bedroom semi-detached townhouse with a garage on Hibiscus Crescent was bought for £187,000 in 2012. The same property sold for £225,000 in June this year, which is a rise of 20%. Prices in the town during this same time period rose by an average of 10.8%, so it should have sold for £207,200 if it had followed the towns average house price trend.

A three bedroom detached house again on Hibiscus Crescent sold for £226,950 in the summer of 2006, and was sold this summer for £249.950. This is again a decent rise of 10%, but average prices in this time have risen by a much more remarkable 26% in the area.

With rents for detached houses on the estate could achieve between £900 and 1100 per month, yields are around 5%. I think in terms of a rental investment, there are better properties, such as smaller two or three bedroom semis, or even ex local authority properties, but for owner occupation there are some bargains.

Our passion lies firmly within the residential property market, so please feel free to talk to us at any point about our diverse area.

House of multiple occupation: Good money - if you do it right....

Owning and letting an HMO (House of multiple occupation) can lead to good yields on an investment for a Landlord.  However, if you get it wrong the fines can by huge.

Two Landlords (not in the Andover area) were recently both fined £30,000 for breaches of the rules covering HMO’s in their area.  In one instant a Landlord was found guilty of 46 offences relating to 4 different properties by the Magistrates Court in Cambridge for allowing tenants to live in dangerous conditions, namely fire safety issues, dangerous electrics and poor security.  He was also charged £1250 in costs.

In a separate case another Landlord was again fined £30,000 for leaving a property with 5 tenants in it with no heating or hot water for 4 weeks during the winter, as well as a leaking toilet.  The fine was high as he was charged £15,000 for failing to licence the house as an HMO, £5,000 for failing to fix the boiler, £5,000 for failing to fix a soil pipe and a further £3,000 for failing to respond to an investigator.  On top of this he was also charged £2,160 in costs.

So the rewards for owning an HMO can be high but beware.  Always ensure you fully comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 and talk to your local authority as there are regional variations to deal with as well.  If in doubt – ask your local authority or a good agent!

Buy to Let opportunity with ready made tenant

This newly listed property is a great buy to let prospect as the current owners would like to rent it from the new owner if possible!

The price of this property is £164,950 and you could expect to achieve around £800pcm giving a yield of around 5.8%.  Add to this the added benefit that the new owner will collect rent from day one!

Click here for more information 

Andover property market outperforms other towns in the area

A landlord with a small property portfolio came into our office on London Street last week. He lives in a village between Ludgershall and Andover, and has properties in both towns. He wanted to ask our opinion on where he should buy his next Buy to Let property.

Looking at Andover, the average property price can be an impressive £282,400 and the average rent is equally high at £1045 per month. In Ludgershall, an average property is £195,000 and the average rent is only £608 per month. The annual yield in Andover could be around 4.5% per year, compared to Ludgershall where he could achieve an annual yield of nearer 3.7%.

It made me consider two other towns close by, Whitchurch and Pewsey. In Whitchurch, I found property values are much higher than in Andover, with an average property price of £359,600. They have an average rent of £1372 per month, which could achieve a yield of 4.6%. The average price of a property in Pewsey is £361,150, with rents of around £815 per month. This could achieve a yield of 2.7% per year.

It goes to show our town of Andover can be a good area for an investment property as the purchase price can be reasonable, but it is a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly. These are only averages, so the yields for some small to medium sized properties in popular areas of Andover can achieve yields of 4.5% to 6.5% per year.

If you want to know our thoughts on property in Andover, pop into our office.

Is Spanish Town Andover's sleeping giant?

A landlord recently missed his chance to buy a three bed semi-detached property on Madrid Road, near the shops and Corunna Main, as it sold in a matter of days. He asked me if there something special about the area, so I did a little research.

I have included Corunna Main, Colenzo Drive, Valencia Way and Seville Crescent in my findings for the Spanish Town area. Corunna Main is the main road going through the development with smaller roads coming off of it.  The development was built in the 1960’s, mainly to encourage workers to move to Andover as the government of the time were making a conscious effort to move businesses out of London to areas such as Andover. 

A number of three bedroom semi detached houses have sold for around £200,000 in the last two years. These properties tend to generally be offered in good order so will require minimum time and effort to get ready for letting and this could achieve rents of around £900 per month, which would provide a reasonable annual yield of around 5.4%.

Well presented three bedroom semi-detached properties in the Spanish Town area which were selling for a maximum of £190,000 two years ago, are now selling for £230,000 or even £240,000. The older houses offer the tenant and buyer larger rooms, which can be more appealing.

With achievable rents of between £875 and £900 per calendar month and, as the houses have seen great increases in value and are popular with buyers and tenants, this makes them very attractive to both home owners and investors. So, if you would like to talk to us about property in our area please feel free to email or come and see us in our office.

Ex council properties can make great investments!

If you are looking for a reasonable return on your investment don’t discount ex local authority properties.  They make good rentals as they are generally well built and offer tenants lots of storage which is always a plus.  I recently found a property advertised by Your Move in Andover on Galahad Close for the asking price of £150,000.  The average rental in that area is £775pcm, depending on the condition.  Therefore even if you were to buy this property at the advertised price this would still represent a very respectable 6.2% yield on your investment.

Likewise ex local authority flats offer good value for money and again tend to offer good storage and occasionally garages.  The management fees are very often lower on these flats but beware as the management company do not hold much of a sinking fund as with other block management companies.  Therefore when additional work is required such as repairs to roofs, decorating communal areas etc they will send you a bill!  Click here for a good example of an ex local authority flat which again offers a yield of around 6.2% even if buying at full asking price as a monthly rental value of £650 should be achievable:

If you are considering investing in a rental property and want to know if what you are considering is a good purchase, pop in to our office and we will be glad to advise you.

Herons Rise Vs Berry Way

A landlord came into our office to ask whether Berry Way, Burghclere Down or Herons Rise would be a better place to invest in. He was considering purchasing a 2 bedroom mid terraced house, after reading a recent newsletter we had sent him.

The properties on Herons Rise were predominately built in the 1970's. They were built by a local builder, predominately for the first time buyer market.  This has remained the case but they have also become popular with buy to let investors. The Burghclere Down development was built in the early 2000’s. The properties here are more aesthetically attractive as is often the case with properties built after the 1970’s, and are of a similar size to those on Herons Rise. The average value of a mid terraced house on Herons Rise is £149,000 whilst on Berry Way a mid terraced house has an average value of £180,000

On Herons Rise, a two bedroomed mid terraced house can achieve rents of around £725 per month, with a three bedroomed mid terraced house achieving around £800 per month. Looking at the rents for Berry Way, a two bedroomed mid terraced house can potentially achieve £775 per month, with a three bedroomed semi-detached house achieving around £875 per month.  Both have similar yields of around 5.8% to 5.2% per year, therefore making both areas sensible propositions.

If you would like any advice when choosing properties, you may come and see us at our office on London Street.

Hello!

Hello to you all! This post marks the beginning of the Andover Property blog. I don't know about you, but we're very excited about it!

And who are we? We are Carole and Anna Bazzoni, a mother/ daughter estate and letting agent team who have both lived in Andover our whole lives. We have been working in the property industry for a combined total of 18 years now- 19 if you include Anna answering the phone and doing the filing on a Saturday. All these years have been a steep learning curve for us and this blog is to try and make everyone else's dealings with property that much easier.

We hope to post an article at least once a week about anything; from the ideal rental, to how to make your property more sale-able, and possibly even the odd post about the day to day life as an Andover lettings and estate agent.

We would love to hear your feedback and suggestion about this blog by either the comments section below, or you can email Anna direct at anna.bazzoni@martinco.com .