“The way it works in Solihull is that you have to rent where you want to live, or buy where you don’t want to live”

I had a really interesting chat with some of my tenants the other day on renewal of their tenancy agreement. They are a lovely couple in their early thirties and I know they have decent jobs in Solihull. They have been tenants of ours for quite a while, so I know them quite well.  We got talking and I enquired if they ever thought of buying a property for themselves, to which they replied back with the title of this article.

After the end of the Second World War, just over a quarter of the UK population owned their own home, the rest rented from private landlords or the local Council. If someone told you in the 1970’s and 1980’s that they rented, they were considered a second class citizen. Everyone wanted to own their own home .. it was the done thing.   We think that home ownership will inevitably happen, but it won't.

It all changed in the 1970’s, when two things happened. Firstly, the number of people who owned their own home broke through the 50% barrier in 1971 and by 1981 it was at 57%. Tied in with that, the average house prices in Solihull were doubling at one point every four years in the 1970’s so property and profit started to feed off each other.

To put that growth in context, if we were to look at property prices in Solihull, in 1930, the average Solihull property was worth £676. Around the 70’s, this was around £13,500. Still quite reasonable. However, by 1980, this had already gone up to £27,000 and by 2006, average prices had rocketed up to £234,521. So, where are we today? The average property value in Solihull currently stands at an eye-watering £327,700.

We could blame Maggie Thatcher for making home ownership the ultimate goal, but we now need to consider whether we should start to love renting again. Some blame the banks and yes - obtaining a 95% mortgage is hard work, but nowhere near impossible. A typical Solihull first time buyer would only need to save £7,000 for a deposit and fees and they could buy a very decent property. For example, you could buy a property in Kingshurst in Solihull, and it would be cheaper each month in mortgage payments than renting.

People might say on the surveys they want to buy, when it comes down to it. If you have been living in a top of the range large property in Monkspath, but the bank will only lend you enough to buy a smaller property in Kingshurst, you may not wish to make the move. Don’t get me wrong, Kingshurst isn’t bad at all, but it isn’t exactly Monkspath if we are being fair?

With tenant demand only going in one direction; it’s why more and more people are getting into buy to let in Solihull. You must take advice on your pension from a Independent Financial Advisor (there are plenty in Solihull) and you must take advice from people who know what to buy (and not to buy) in Solihull to ensure you get the best from your investment.