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 1st 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/
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