Falkirk’s continuing housing shortage is putting the
town’s (and Scotland’s) repute as a nation of homeowners ‘under threat’, as the
number of houses being built continues to be woefully inadequate in meeting the
ever demanding needs of the growing population in the town.
In fact, I was talking to some friends the other day at a
get together and the subject of the Falkirk property market came
up in the conversation after the weather and politics. It was said that it used
to be that if you went out to work and did the right thing, you would expect
that relatively quickly you would be buying a house, you would go on holiday
every year and you would save for a pension. But now things seem to have
changed.
At least 30,000 new homes are needed each year in
Scotland to tackle the chronic housing shortage this Country has.
As you can see from the graph above (courtesy of the
Office of National Statistics), only 18,285 properties were built in
2015 in Scotland as a whole (split down 12,050 built by private builders, 3,060
built by Housing Associations and a paltry 1,160 council houses). Also, and perhaps more concerning, is the fact
that the last time we build more than 30,000 homes a year was in 1977 (the year
of the punk explosion and the Queen’s silver (yes, silver!) jubilee depending
on your taste) and we have only built 21,000 homes per year on average over the
last 10 years.
The current Scottish Government is helping – they are
committed to see the building of 6,000 homes per year on average and are on
track to deliver this. However, this still
leaves another 24,000 homes per year to build.
The picture in Falkirk is similar to the Scottish wide
trend.
There are simply not enough houses in Falkirk and the
shortage of supply has meant Falkirk property values have
continued to rise, meaning they are 2.2% higher than 6 months ago despite the
Brexit impact on the housing market.
I was taught at school that it is all about supply and
demand, this economics game. The demand for Falkirk property has
been particular strong for properties in the good areas of the town
and it is my considered opinion that it is likely to continue this year, driven
by growing demand among buyers (both Falkirk home buyers and Falkirk landlords
alike). You see, Falkirk’s economy is quite varied which will help it weather
the current economic uncertainties that we are going through.
…and of supply, well we have spoken about the lack of new
building in the town holding things back, but there is another issue relating
to supply. Of the existing properties already built, the concern is
the number of properties on the market and for sale. The number
of properties currently for sale in Falkirk is only 257,
whilst 12 months ago this figure was well over 400 … a massive drop!
With demand for Falkirk property rising,
minimal new homes being built and less properties coming onto the
market, that can only mean one thing, now is a good time to be a homeowner or
landlord in Falkirk.
If you would like a chat to find out more about
investment property and property management in Falkirk please pick up the phone
(01324 469840), pop in (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk) or email (falkirk@thekeyplace.co.uk).
A few more interesting articles about the
Falkirk property market:
- 266% increase in 20 years in Falkirk – interesting, very interesting http://bit.ly/2ahgFNo
- A look at how the Private Rented Sector is performing, Summer 2016 http://bit.ly/2aR3kKN
- To buy or sell in the Falkirk property market? That is the question http://bit.ly/2abCFX5
- Falkirk property market – evidence that there is life after Brexit vote http://bit.ly/2a4vpii
- Falkirk Buy to Let sees returns of 8.9% in the last year http://bit.ly/2abkMst
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