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Lettings
in South Bucks Still Going Strong
Although
many local estate agents in South Bucks are finding business
very slow on the sales side, those with Residential letting
offices or our stand alone lettings agents are very busy.
From my work in a local agent in High Wycombe, I have noticed
that the telephone lines are very busy, people keep on coming
in through the door to look for rentals or to sign up to a
letting and this is good news.
Employment
levels are still good and those that could be tempted to buy
are finding they are having to wait longer to save up for
a mortgage as a result of the credit cruch. This means that
they have to find a higher deposit than they would have done
earlier in the year and need to rent till they can afford
to buy.
Others
are waiting to see if sale prices are going to continue to
drop before going ahead to buy. As long as property owners
are asking the rental prices that an agent suggests they should
let ok. In High Wycombe, Bucks like neighbouring Slough in
Berks there are a lot of new build devopments and many buy-to-let
investors have opted for these.
This
means there is an excellent choice, however many investors
decide not to furnish a property so a prospective tenant has
to consider purchasing furniture. This can add to a tenant's
costs as they will also have to rent a vehicle to move their
belongings in an out.
As
long as employment stays high then the rental market will
remain strong, however as each day the media is reporting
x number being made reduntant here or there then there will
be a knock on effect.
In
the late 1980's and early 1990's the housing market was bad
as well. The negative equity situation was dramatic and many
people could not sell and kept their studio apartments and
small flats instead. They often let them out to cover the
mortgage costs and in that era interest rates were very high
unlike in 2008 where we have the lowest interest rates for
over fifty years in the UK.
There
was always a good market for the smaller properties as there
appears to be today and it is important that Landlords who
own older style property keep them modernised and up to date.
Tenants quite often want to view several properties and if
it is a choice between new build or one that has seen better
days, when there is a large choice of property then a renter
will naturally go for the better property.
At
times like these both Landlords and Tenants will often want
to save costs and the one cost they should never cut down
on is the rental insurance for the property. For the landlord,
this can usually be offeset against a tax liability on the
rental and the tenant can have peace of mind (providing they
take the corect policy) knowing that if they spill theit wine
or coffee on the landlord's carpet they are covered.
Although the economic outlook is not good for 2009, the rental
market outlook in the south Bucks area of England still is
good.
Philip
Suter is a Director of JML Property Services, http://www.jmlproperty.co.uk
a UK based company offering property rentals in Berkshire
and Buckinghamshire, England and a self catering vacation
home advertising service - http://www.jmlvillas.com
and management training within the uk. He is a very experienced
property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential
letting business and served in the national council of The
Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). He is a
Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)
and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents
©Philip
Suter jml Property Services December 2008
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