Solihull Property Market Crisis as New House Building slumps by 84.52%

One of the key factors that influences the price of anything is the demand for and supply of the item that is being bought and sold. When it comes to property, demand can change overnight, but it takes a lot longer to build new properties and increase the supply.

The Conservatives have pledged to build over 1 million homes by 2020. I am of the opinion that as a country, irrespective of which party, we have not built enough homes for decades, and if the gap between the number of ‘new’ households and the number of new homes being built continues to widen, we are in danger of not being able to house our children or grand children. I believe this country has gone beyond the need for another grand statement of ambition by yet another Housing Minister. Surely it’s time to give Solihull families back the hope of a secure home, be that rented or owned? As a town, we need to make sure Westminster is held accountable, to ensure there is a comprehensive plan, with enough investment, that can actually get these homes built.

To give you an idea of the sorts of numbers we are talking about, in the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council area in 2005, 550 properties were built. In 2006 that number peaked at 840 and a year later in 2007, was still at 680. By 2014, the figure had dropped by a massive 84.52% to 130 properties built.

The outcome of too few homes being built in Solihull means the working people of the town are being priced out of buying their first home and renters are not getting the quality they deserve for their money. The local authority isn't building the estates they were and housing associations are having their budgets tightened year on year, meaning they have less money to spend on building new properties. I know of many Solihull youngsters, who are living with their parents for longer because they cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder and growing families are unable to buy the bigger homes they need.

I talk to many Solihull business people and they tell me they need a flexible and mobile workforce, but the high cost of moving home and lack of decent and affordable housing are barriers to attracting and retaining employees. Furthermore, building new homes is a powerful source of growth, creating jobs across the county and supporting hundreds of Solihull businesses. It is true that landlords have taken up the mantle and over the last 15 years have bought a large number of properties. The Government need to be thankful to all those Solihull landlords, who own the 5,242 rental properties in the town. Most local landlords only have a handful of rented properties (to aid their retirement), and without them, I honestly don’t know who would house all the extra people in Solihull!

Moving forward, those Solihull landlords have new legislation to be aware of, with the introduction of the deregulation act this year including for example: the introduction of right to rent checks and serving of serving notice to vacate as well as carbon monoxide detector requirements.  Many of these new rules came in to play from the 1^st October 2015 there is of course also the planned phased change in the tax relief on buy to let properties.

More than ever, the days of buying any old property in Solihull and being set for life are gone. Now, it’s all about ensuring you stay the right side of the law, buying the right property (and that might mean even selling some to buy others), so you build the right portfolio for you as a landlord. Talking to your agent to get the right advice, is now even more important than ever.  A further source of information and where you will find other articles similar to this one on the Solihull property market, is the Solihull Property Blog http://solihullpropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk/