Best time to sell or let in East London with the surge in buyers & tenants
As a UK based estate and letting agency, we always deal with hundreds of applications for both lettings and sales every single year. However, during the last couple of months, we have encountered a stark rise in applicants, and that’s excellent news for the housing market. It means that more people than usual feel confident enough to relocate in the current economic climate, and lettings agents now have to attempt to deal with the demand in the most efficient manner possible. With all that in mind, we wanted to find out a little more about the state of the market at the moment and why there is a sudden surge. Hopefully, this short article with highlight some of the potential causes.
The rise of house building
No less than 217,000 new homes appeared on the market during 2016 and 2017, which means there is now more selection than ever before for buyers. That homebuilding increase is 20% higher than the previous year, and it helps to explain why so many couples and families want to relocate at the moment.
Even if most of those new homes already have owners and tenants, those people have to move to the properties from somewhere. So, it’s clear to see that more variety and choice encourages homeowners to consider their options and take a look at the markets. We conclude that the rise in house building is playing a vital role in the current situation.
Help to buy schemes
Lots of people have taken advantage of the UK government’s help to buy scheme during the last couple of years, and that has resulted in more individuals climbing their way up the housing ladder.
Philip Hammond abolished stamp duty on all properties valued up to £300,000 bought by first-time buyers, and that helped people to save an average of £5,000. The help to buy scheme has also just received an extra £10 billion in funding that will ensure it remains in place until at least 2021. We conclude that programs of that nature make it much easier for the average person to buy a home, and so it influences the latest trend.
Low rental rises
So, why are so many private tenants relocating and looking for better properties? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that average UK rents rose by only 1% during 2017. Experts predict they will rise slightly more this year, but that is considerably less than the rate of inflation. If tenants know they can move to a more spacious home in a more affluent area without having to worry about rental rises, many of them will do so.
The three reasons mentioned are likely explain why our company is dealing with so many sales and lettings applications at the current time. The housing market is in the best state we’ve seen for many years, and so it’s no wonder that both tenants and homeowners feel confident right now. We hope that has helped to shed some light on the situation.
