The Falkirk Property Blog - Festive Greetings To All Our Readers

Well investors 2016 is drawing to a close and the property world is beginning to go into Christmas hibernation, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the followers of the blog for your support during 2016.

Your support has been much appreciated and I have enjoyed the debate the blog has generated with you all, the majority of whom have become good friends, as well as valued customers. It has been an interesting year for investors in the Falkirk property market, with increases in average prices combined with tax changes and more new legislation to be taken on board, to name but a few.

Those of you who follow the blog know my views moving into the New Year and those of you with existing profitable portfolios in place have different challenges, to those just starting out in their property investment careers. As ever, I will endeavour to continue to post articles covering all investment opportunities in the property market in Falkirk, when I return to the blog the week commencing 9th January.

In finishing I would like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

If you would like to explore how I can help you with your property investments, or should you require any advice about investing in the Falkirk property market, wish to enquire about our Investment Analysis Reports, Property Sourcing, Residential Lettings or Property Management services, please do not hesitate to call me on 01324 469840 or email me on news@thekeyplace.co.uk.

Alternatively, please feel free to pop in and see us at our offices at 6 Vicar Street for a chat, the coffee is always on.

Don't forget to visit www.thefalkirkpropertyblog.co.uk to view back dated articles and deals from The Falkirk Property Blog. 

                                                                    www.thekeyplace.co.uk

Greater Falkirk’s population set to rise to 140,000 by 2036

Falkirk faces a predicament - the population is growing and the provision of new housing isn’t keeping up. With the average age of a Falkirk person being 41.0 years (compared to the national average of 40.4 years of age), the population of Falkirk is growing at an alarming rate. This is due to an amalgamation of longer life expectancy, a fairly high birth rate (compared to previous decades) and net immigration, all of which contribute to housing shortages and burgeoning house prices.

And the population is going to continue to increase.  Using data provided by the National Records of Scotland, I forecast that the Falkirk population will grow as follows:

2016 population           130,663

2021 population           133,308

2026 population           136,102

2031 population           138,552

2036 population           140,326

The normal ratio of people to property is 2 to 1 in the UK, which therefore means that we need just over 9,600 additional new properties to be built in Falkirk over the next 20 years.

Whilst focusing on population growth does not tackle the housing crisis in the short term in Falkirk, it has a fundamental role to play in long-term housing development and strategy in the town. The rise of Falkirk property values over the last eight years since the credit crunch is primarily a result of a lack of properties coming onto the market, a lack of new properties being built in the town and rising demand (especially from landlords looking to buy property to rent them out to the growing number of people wanting to live in Falkirk but can’t buy or rent from the Council).

Although many are talking about the need to improve supply (ie the building of new properties), the issue of accumulative demand from population growth is often overlooked. Nationally, the proportion of 25-34 year olds who own their own home has dropped dramatically from 66.7% in 1987 to 43.8% in 2014, whilst 78.2% of over 65’s own their own home. Longer life expectancies mean houses remain in the same hands for longer.

In the short to medium term, demand for a roof over one’s head will continue to grow in Falkirk (and Scotland as a whole). In the short term, that demand can only be met from the private rental sector (which is good news for homeowners and landlords alike as that keeps house prices higher).

In the long term though, local and national Government and the UK population as a whole, need to realise these additional people over the next 20 years need to live somewhere. Only once this issue starts to get addressed, in terms of extra properties being built in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, can we all help create a socially ecological prosperous future for everyone.

If you want to discuss any property matters, come and see me for a chat - my office is at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk.  Alternatively, you can me on news@thekeyplace.co.uk or call me on 01324 469840.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

Are you a typical Falkirk landlord?

“So tell me, am I your typical landlord?” was the question once of my multiple property landlords asked me earlier this week.  Well how do you answer that one? 

I tactfully said that landlords come in all different shapes and sizes ..... metaphorically speaking ..... and then went on to share a few common landlord traits.

Number of properties owned

The vast majority – 95% + – of landlords only own 1 or 2 rental properties with only 1% of landlords owning 25 or more properties. 

How properties are financed

Over 50% of rental properties are bought with the help of a mortgage either by the landlord taking out a buy to let mortgage (38%) or by the remortgaging their own home (14%).  A further 28% of rented properties are owned by landlords outright. 

The proportion of landlords owning their properties outright has increased considerably since the financial crisis of 2007/08 as mortgages became more difficult to come by.  I would expect this trend to continue given the recent tax changes to mortgage interest relief.

How many landlords use a letting agent?

About two thirds of landlords use a letting agent either to fully manage their properties (28%) or to find tenants for their properties (34%).  The remaining landlords manage their properties themselves. 

Over time, the propotion of landlords using letting agents has increased as the regulatory enviroment has increased.  I would expect this to accelerate as more and more regulation is introduced especially as the property ‘police’ are given more powers and money to ensure this regulations.

How good are landlords at doing essential safety checks?

Simple answer is ‘Could do better .... much better in some instances’!

More than 90% of landlords say that they do essential gas safety checks but less than 70% say that they do essential electrical safety checks .... the ‘true’ results are likely to be far less appealing! 

Interestingly though, the safety checks that have needed to be done for longest (gas) as the ones that most people say they so, over time, lets hope the other check catch up!

Most common problems with rented properties

Basically mould, damp and poor insulation/excessive cold with these three reasons being the most common by a ‘country mile’. 

Interesting to note is that gas issues are far less common than electrical issues which may well be explained by the higher level of gas safety check that are being carried out.

Age of landlords

Basically landlords are between 40 and 70 years old – landlords in this age bracket make up 86% of landlords. 

Also, the majority of landlords are male.

Occupations of landlords

This is fascinating.  25% of landlords are property investors, a further 24% are business owners and further 18% are pensioners.  So that means that more than two thirds of landlords are in these three categories of occupation.  

Outside these three occupations, landlords are fairly evenly split with no other occupation having more than 5% of landlords.

So, was my landlord a typical Falkirk landlord?

Well, broadly yes.  He was a mid 50%’s male business owner who had two buy to let properties partly funded by buy to let mortgages.  The one area he bucked the trend on was the safety stuff because, as he used The Key Place as a letting agent, he was completely on top of all this stuff.

Are you a typical Falkirk landlord?

Let me know by popping in for a chat over coffee – our offices are at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk – or email me on news@thekeyplace.co.uk or call me on 01324 469840.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk