Here is the latest edition of the Property Options’ monthly update on the UK Buy To Let (BTL) market.
This update is by economist Chris Worthington, who was one of the speakers at our recent February PIM.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), based on data from the Land Registry, show that the housing market is slowing down in 2017, with average house price rises of between a 2% and 5%.
Statistics from the Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index highlight some of the detail. London price growth has fallen from 12% to 3% in the past year but in the larger regional cities including Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester house prices are up by 3.5% quarter on quarter.
Following a similar pattern, the latest index from Nationwide shows that the average monthly rise effectively erases the decline recorded over the previous three months – with year on year prices up by 3.1%.
For Buy to Let (BTL) investors the overall trend on house prices appears to be fairly consistent with an annual increase of a little over 3% across the board.
The statistics on rents are not so clear cut.
The latest Rental Index published by Homelet show that average rents for new tenancies in the UK fell by 0.3% in May, compared to the same month a year ago. However there were regional variations with rental increases in 6 the 12 regions in the UK .
The highest increase was in the East Midlands at 3.3%. Rents in London rents fell by 3% in the same period.
The month on month statistics on rents published by Your Move indicate that rental growth has resumed in some areas. The National Rent Review, published by Landbay, also provides evidence for a strong growth in rents in some towns and cities, including Luton, Peterborough and Thurrock.
For BTL investors the broad conclusion in terms of upward or downward movement in rents is that there is a wide variation across the country other than in London where it seems clear that rents have fallen.
In the light of this, how should BTL investors be adjusting their investment strategies?
In most parts of the UK investors can be fairly confident about a moderate increase in house prices.
However given the local and regional variations in rents they need to look closely at these before investing.
Huge amounts of information are available on line for desk research from websites such as Rightmove, Zoopla and home.co.uk. And of course they should not forget to develop relationships with local letting agents and estate agents – including Property Options of course!
Find Out More
We will all be discussing the latest position on the property market, both in Bristol and across the UK, at our next PIM on Thursday 27 July 2017 at Holiday Inn, Bristol City Centre, 6-9 pm.
We hope you will join us then.
For more info and to reserve your place Click Below
Property Options Bristol
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