Hey Fellow Renters - Good News

[renterbob]

Not in a far off Northern town, but Chelsea ...and what happens there....goes everywhere.......

Bye bye 'landlords'!

Source

[Matt Henson]

Not in a far off Northern town, but Chelsea ...and what happens there....goes everywhere.......

Bye bye 'landlords'!

Source

I wish they were true Bob but rents haven't increased like house prices and so relative to earnings, renting is "affordable".

The high end London market is very sensitive to high earners earning capacity but if you rent a flat to a pair of nurses down the road from a hospital it is unlikely you are going to get much more or much less than a fixed percentage of nursing pay.

It depends on who you rent to a where, I had a fool of an ex-colleague who in his infinite wisdom poo poo'ed any of my suggestions that house prices could ever go down (this is July 2007) he and his lovely wife when and spent £900,000 on a 5 bed BTL in London using equity in there own 4 bed house because of course he knew best. They best rent they could get was 60% of the cost of mortgage and now both of their houses are being repossessed! The lemmings who dived in to the market at the end will fall off the edge.

My flat is 1 bed in SE london, mortgage almost paid off (thankfully) rented to a nurse and a young doctor and they pay the same rent as they did when they moved in three years ago because rents have not increased in SE London, but there will always be a steady source of medical staff because the flat is 10 mins from a major teaching hospital who can afford to live in my flat because it is not too expensive.

Like all businesses, knowing your market is key

Edited September 19, 2008 by Matt Henson

[renterbob]

I wish they were Bob but rents haven't increased like house prices and so relative to earnings, renting is "affordable".

The high end London market is very sensitive to high earners earning capacity but if you rent a flat to a pair of nurses down the road from a hospital it is unlikely you are going to get much more or much less than a fixed percentage of nursing pay.

It depends on who you rent to a where, I had a fool of an ex-colleague who in his infinite wisdom poo poo'ed any of my suggestions that house prices could ever go down (this is July 2007) he and his lovely wife when and spent £900,000 on a 5 bed BTL in London using equity in there own 4 bed house because of course he knew best. They best rent they could get was 60% of the cost of mortgage and now both of their houses are being repossessed! The lemmings who dived in to the market at the end will fall off the edge.

My flat is 1 bed in SE london, mortgage almost paid off (thankfully) rented to a nurse and a young doctor and they pay the same rent as they did when they moved in three years ago because rents have not increased in SE London, but there will always be a steady source of medical staff because the flat is 10 mins from a major teaching hospital who can afford to live in my flat because it is not too expensive.

Like all businesses, knowing your market is key

Agreed. That's sensible landlording, but you do realise you are in the minority Matt, some of the rentals in SE London are shocking.

Hopefully the Medics will give you a stable income, and give some medical advice if you ever need some as a bonus.

[JohnnyB]

I wish they were Bob but rents haven't increased like house prices and so relative to earnings, renting is "affordable".

The high end London market is very sensitive to high earners earning capacity but if you rent a flat to a pair of nurses down the road from a hospital it is unlikely you are going to get much more or much less than a fixed percentage of nursing pay.

It depends on who you rent to a where, I had a fool of an ex-colleague who in his infinite wisdom poo poo'ed any of my suggestions that house prices could ever go down (this is July 2007) he and his lovely wife when and spent £900,000 on a 5 bed BTL in London using equity in there own 4 bed house because of course he knew best. They best rent they could get was 60% of the cost of mortgage and now both of their houses are being repossessed! The lemmings who dived in to the market at the end will fall off the edge.

My flat is 1 bed in SE london, mortgage almost paid off (thankfully) rented to a nurse and a young doctor and they pay the same rent as they did when they moved in three years ago because rents have not increased in SE London, but there will always be a steady source of medical staff because the flat is 10 mins from a major teaching hospital who can afford to live in my flat because it is not too expensive.

Like all businesses, knowing your market is key

OUCH!!

I've seen rents come down a little round my way, also SE London, but some were starting to ask way too much. Ours is about the cheapest we could find at the time for a 1 bed, but i'm starting to see 2beds that aren't much more, and some of the flashier 1-bed places are also coming down to the amount we pay so I think i'll be looking to move when my AST expires.

I think Bob has a point, the effect of reduced rent in city boy locations will ripple outwards with time. If the cost of renting in Docklands or the west end falls, then more people who could not afford to live so close to the centre before will move in. They will leave the slightly further out areas empty, so rents fall to attract people into them from further out, right the way out to Zone6 and beyond.

It will take time, and i won't crash like houses have, but I think rents will drop significantly over the next few years, particularly in London.

[Matt Henson]

OUCH!!

I've seen rents come down a little round my way, also SE London, but some were starting to ask way too much. Ours is about the cheapest we could find at the time for a 1 bed, but i'm starting to see 2beds that aren't much more, and some of the flashier 1-bed places are also coming down to the amount we pay so I think i'll be looking to move when my AST expires.

I think Bob has a point, the effect of reduced rent in city boy locations will ripple outwards with time. If the cost of renting in Docklands or the west end falls, then more people who could not afford to live so close to the centre before will move in. They will leave the slightly further out areas empty, so rents fall to attract people into them from further out, right the way out to Zone6 and beyond.

It will take time, and i won't crash like houses have, but I think rents will drop significantly over the next few years, particularly in London.

It will very interesting to see what happens in my part of the world (SN8/Marlborough) there are dozens and dozens of second homes owned or rented by city boys and girls, I know if the sh1t had hit the fan I would certainly let the country home go especially if I was renting it. I am paying the same rent for 6 beds as I did for 4 two years ago so the market is going down, despite the rather odd summer blip of "force renters" who thought rents should match mortgages which I notice are still on the market or have dropped their prices hugely.

btw JohnnyB what do you pay if I could be so rude to ask, ours is £700 pm for a 1 bed, 80' Garden flat with large kitchen and livingroom

Edited September 19, 2008 by Matt Henson

[JohnnyB]

It will very interesting to see what happens in my part of the world (SN8/Marlborough) there are dozens and dozens of second homes owned or rented by city boys and girls, I know if the sh1t had hit the fan I would certainly let the country home go especially if I was renting it. I am paying the same rent for 6 beds as I did for 4 two years ago so the market is going down, despite the rather odd summer blip of "force renters" who thought rents should match mortgages which I notice are still on the market or have dropped their prices hugely.

btw JohnnyB what do you pay if I could be so rude to ask, ours is £700 pm for a 1 bed, 80' Garden flat with large kitchen and livingroom

Mine is the same rent, for a flat that sounds pretty much the same (we have a driveway too), though the carpets and painting are a bit shabby (I don't really care since I always spill ash trays on carpets anyway). Our living room might not be as large, but we have a very big bedroom instead (the way it is arranged is a bit weird, as with all chopped up victorian houses).

Edited September 19, 2008 by JohnnyB

[BarryM]

Here are the actual numbers for South Kensington & Chelsea lettings move ins agreed to close of business last night (today's figures not included).

Asking prices vs prices acheived South Kensington & Chelsea lettings - September 2008 move ins

source - Chard lettings, South Kensington & Chelsea office

[BarryM]

Asking prices vs agreed prices

Notting Hill and Kensington Lettings - September Move Ins to date

[Bankside]

There is an oversupply of properties to let - the numbers have doubled since last year. We are doing a lot more transactions than last year, but revenue is less as rents are falling. You can now rent a flat in Chelsea for £450 a week that would have cost £1,200 a week last year. This is because we rely on City boys - and they aren't there any more.

Ivor Dickinson, Douglas & Gordon

I emailed Ivor at D & G as I'm in the market for a new place.

Unsurprisingly the response was as follows:

Dear Mr xxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your email, unfortunately the figure quoted in The Times is a misprint. Please let me know how many bedrooms you require and your budget and I will forward your details to our Chelsea office.

Kind regards,

Lucy Goy

I did respond to Ms Goy, and she has not had the decency to acknowledge or respond to my reply. Nor have the Chelsea branch contacted me.

You'd think they'd be keen to engage with propective customers right now, but it would appear not. I don't think I know of any other type of business that ignores people who want to spend money like estate agents do.

[Tiger Woods?]

It depends on who you rent to a where, I had a fool of an ex-colleague who in his infinite wisdom poo poo'ed any of my suggestions that house prices could ever go down (this is July 2007) he and his lovely wife when and spent £900,000 on a 5 bed BTL in London using equity in there own 4 bed house because of course he knew best. They best rent they could get was 60% of the cost of mortgage and now both of their houses are being repossessed! The lemmings who dived in to the market at the end will fall off the edge.

Oh my oh my oh my. Natural selection in action.

[Matt Henson]

Oh my oh my oh my. Natural selection in action.

I know, he was a complete pratt as well, when he joined the company he insisted on taking a 4x4 as a company car, we all advised him otherwise because of the prospect of a huge tax bill but of course he knew best. A month after the car arrived he was screaming blue murder when his pay check was £1100 lower (£650 tax and no car allowance).... we did tell him!!!

[researchmug]

I've been watching my local area well and rents have fallen by about 15 percent in 3 months due to a massive increase in the number of available properties.

When I rented in june I had a choice of three properties within my needs/location/budget. now I would have a choice of 21.

I'm expecting it to go further as it's on the increase by one or two more properties per week. I'm guessing a choice of 30-40 properties to chose from at a 6 month 25 percent fall in rental prices by December when I come to the end of my 6 month tenancy. I'll be taking advantage of it too.

[Chrysalis]

I noticed yesterday that

1 - rents are up for my area on right move.

2 - lot less properties available

and out of couriosity

3 - local housing allowance rates have been dropped a lot for the area, the cheapest property I could find was above what they call the average rent.

#3 does indicate something will give with benefit tenants possibly forcing prices down, but seems already out of touch.

[renterbob]

I noticed yesterday that

1 - rents are up for my area on right move.

2 - lot less properties available

and out of couriosity

3 - local housing allowance rates have been dropped a lot for the area, the cheapest property I could find was above what they call the average rent.

#3 does indicate something will give with benefit tenants possibly forcing prices down, but seems already out of touch.

Yes, rents only ever go up. Just like house prices.

Erm, no.