Welcome to the Basingstoke Property Blog

A few weeks ago I was asked a fascinating question by a local Councillor who, after reading the Basingstoke Property Blog, emailed me and asked me – “Are Basingstoke Landlords meeting the Challenges of tenants bringing up their families in Basingstoke?” What an interesting question to be asked. Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a homeowner, to bring up a family, the most important factors are security and stability in the home. A great bellwether of that security and stability in a rented property is how long a tenant remains in the property before moving. There is a common perception that many tenancies last just six months with families at risk of being thrown out or evicted after that with just two months’ notice and often without reason. Some politicians are suggesting that we need to deal with the terrible insecurity of Britain’s private rental market by creating longer tenancies of 3 or 5 years instead of the current six months. However, the numbers seem to b...

  Speaking frankly, even with Brexit and the promise that immigration numbers will reduce in the coming years, there is an unending and severe shortage of new housing being built in the Basingstoke area (and the UK as a whole).   Even if there is short term confidence (see the latest figures from Halifax and Nationwide), trembles fueled by newspapers hungry for bad news and the ever growing population of Basingstoke with its high demand for property versus curtailed supply of properties being built, may lead to an imbalance of supply/demand and the possibility of even lower interest rates to underpin the property market.   When the Tories were elected in 2015, David Cameron vowed to build 1,000,000 new homes by 2020.   If we as a Country hit those levels of building, most academics stated the UK Housing market would balance itself as the increased supply of property would give a chance for the younger generation to buy their own home as opposed to rent....

Basingstoke is already in the clutches of a population crisis that has now started to affect the quality of life of those living in Basingstoke. There are simply not enough homes in Basingstoke to house the greater number of people wanting to live in the town. The burden on public services is evidenced by many parents being unable to send their child to their first choice of primary or secondary school and the difficulty in getting access to your choice of Dentist or GP Doctor’s Surgery.   Well that’s what the papers would say, but let’s look at real numbers, and in particular the subject of Basingstoke Property, with the housing issue in Basingstoke. To start with, the UK has roughly 1,065 people per square mile – the second highest in Europe. The total area of Basingstoke itself is 11.269 square miles and there are 107,300 Basingstoke residents, meaning …   9,500 people live in each square mile of Basingstoke, it’s no wonder we appear to be bursting at the s...

  Brand new apartment in the town centre from £148,000. The property is close to the train station and comes with parking, so I am sure this will be sold fast. Ideally offered for the rental market furnished it would rent for £850 a month so a yield of 6.89%.  Here is the link http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-60526238.html

This house has just been listed for sale with Barons. The house is ideal for a buy to let landlord, as it will be popular for both families and sharers. This is likely to rent out for £975 a month, so a yield of 4.875% Here is the link http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60972377.html

The orthodox way of classifying property in the UK is to look at the number of bedrooms rather than its size in square metres (although now we are leaving the EU – I wonder if we can go back to feet and inches?). It seems that homeowners and tenants are happy to pay for more space. It’s quite obvious, the more bedrooms a house or apartment has, the bigger it is likely to be. The reason being not only the actual additional bedroom space, but the properties with more bedrooms tend to have larger / more reception rooms. However, if you think about it, this isn’t so astonishing given that properties with more bedrooms would typically accommodate more people and therefore require larger reception rooms. In today’s Basingstoke property market, the Basingstoke homeowners and Basingstoke landlords I talk to are always asking me which attributes and features are likely to make their property comparatively more attractive and which ones may detract from the price. Over time, buyers’ and te...

Landlords or agents obtain copies of for the original document(s) for all adult occupier(s) that show they have the right to be in the UK. Where a document shows the adult occupier(s) has a limited right to remain in the UK, further checks will need to made by the landlord or agent nearer the time of expiry of leave to remain in the UK.

From October 1st 2015, a smoke alarm must be fitted on each storey of a premises where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. These must be checked to be working at the start of each tenancy.

  Even the most pro Brexit 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 Basingstoke 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 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council area is £290,300, this means property values are set to drop for the average Basingstoke property by £29,030 … batten down the hatches … here comes the next recession ... it’s going to get rough!   … but, before we all go into panic mode in Basingstoke … the devil is always in the detail   Look at the phrase again, and I have highlighted the relevant part “Property values in Basingstoke will be 10% lower than they would have been if we hadn’t vot...

New Homes, ideal for investment buyers     I was on Rightmove today and these brand new apartments have just been released with an open day this weekend. Croudace the builder always builds to a high standard, so if you were interested you would need to move quickly so you get a choice of plots. They are very easy to let and popular with the young professional couples. Here is the link http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-59552804.html