Why Are London Rents Going Up?

All this talk of a credit crunch and housing market slowdown has meant many first time buyers are staying on the sidelines and continuing to rent.
This is normal behaviour and one that I explain in the first chapter of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let”
I have already observed on this blog that these first time buyers may be mistaken in some areas, particularly in London, where I don’t expect house prices to fall at all, though there will be a slight increase in opportunities to buy below market value from desperate sellers.
I now see that Savills has reported annual growth of 8 per cent in rent levels in the more up market areas of London while Cluttons, puts the figures at 15 per cent .
Anecdotal evidence from my estate agent friends at the more down market end of the London rental market, indicates the same thing is happening. Indeed, most London agents are now seeing an increasing business from prospective tenants - and landlords & are putting up rents in line with this increased demand.
This is good news for landlords whose rental yields are now low (though that is of course, itself a function of rising house prices and rents that have failed to grow as fast)
It is bad news for tenants!
In London, expect more rental growth and steady house prices for the next year.
If you need advice on buying property to let out or on how to be a landlord ask me.
I’m David Lawrenson from property investment experts http://www.lettingfocus.com/
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book.
I’m a public speaker on property investment issues and a freelance property writer and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog and run a landlord coaching and advice service
You can read more of my landlord blog and details of my networking, advice, property mentoring programme at my website http://www.lettingfocus.com/
My next London landlord networking meeting is on November 14th. Click here for details: Landlord Seminar
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer unbiased and independent property advice because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.
If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated at least twice a week

Will property prices overseas keep going up?

Are property prices overseas going to keep going up?
According to Michael Ball, who is a professor of property at Reading university and a government adviser the answer is “No”.
He says that prices of homes in many parts of continental Europe have risen too fast driven by speculation and easy mortgage availability.
He also points out that the supply of new flats had been increasing at a very fast rate - leading to oversupply in many areas. This is something that I have long cautioned about at at the speeches I am asked to give at conferences and trade shows around the UK and in Europe.
Speaking to the Investment Property Forum last week and reported in the Saturday’s FT, Professor Ball also observed that some overseas markets had been driven (mainly) by foreign investors “and now that is beginning to turn."
In his speech he specifically mentioned Estonia, where house prices have dropped by around 10 per cent in a year.
Savills, in another survey, showed how many foreign buyers seem to overestimate the rental returns avilable through letting.
At my public speaking events on property at lettingfocus.com and at this blog, we have always questioned whether people locally in many markets can afford to pay the rents required to give investors a decent return - given how low local salaries still are.
Also, many British and Irish borrowers are likely to come in for a big shock when their mortgage payments are reviewed following the recent credit crunch.
My advice is to only deal with a home operator who has a track record of making investments overseas – and one who has an open forum - where you can read how past investors got on with that company before.
There are a few companies around like this. Propertysecrets.net is a good one, but there are not many like them.
And then, always, always do your own research.
If you need advice on buying property overseas or landlord advice ask me.
I’m David Lawrenson from landlord expert company Letting Focus. I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book.
I’m a speaker on landlord issues and a freelance property writer and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog and run a landlord mentoring service
You can read more of my landlord blog and details of my networking, advice, property advice and mentoring programme at my website www.lettingfocus.com.
My next London landlord networking meeting is in November. Click here for details: Landlord Seminar
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we are unbiased and independent, because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.
If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated at least twice a week