Speaking to an Ashtead Landlord the other day, we got talking about the state of the
Epsom property market and whether we, as a Country, are turning more and more to
the European style of property ownership, where it is the norm to rent as a opposed
to automatically buying once you have a good job etc.
Even though a recent report by the Halifax stated homeownership remains a goal for
85% of twenty to forty five year olds, there is information emerging that attitudes in
the UK towards renting your own home as opposed to owning it have softened,
showing more and more, that renting is being seen as a life style choice. In fact it is
recognised in learned circles that the cycle of renting is also repeated by the fact
that people who grow up primarily in rented accommodation are themselves more
likely to rent than buy.
The biggest barrier often mentioned to buying a house is the claim that they are not
buying property at the moment because of a lack of sufficient wages and by the high
level of deposits required, but like we said a few weeks ago, in Epsom, if a couple,
one on the average Epsom salary of £37,498 pa and the other on the Minimum
wage, assuming they had a reasonable credit history, they would be showered with
lenders offering them a 95% mortgage (a reasonable credit history means they
haven’t defaulted on loans, paid all their bills on time nor got any County Court
Judgements. Just because you missed just one credit card payment won’t mean you
have messed up your credit score and your ability to get a mortgage) and they would
only need to find £11,500 as a deposit to buy a decent apartment in any area of
Epsom....it comes down to the perceived capability of the youngsters in Epsom to
buy nowadays.
Interestingly, when I looked at the Epsom figures, the average Epsom tenant has a
middle aged profile (in the 35 to 49 year old age range) than the English and Welsh
average, as can be seen from the graph below. What interested me as well was the
relatively large number of people renting over the age of 50! I know we have a large
number of mature tenants at our agency, but I always thought that was the exception
to the rule. Obviously not! (And that is good news for landlords as they make
excellent tenants)
So what does all this mean for Epsom landlords and future Epsom landlords? I
honestly believe there is a difference between the hope and perceived capability of
the younger generation to buy a home. Although homeownership is seen as
advantageous by a majority, many tenants admitted in the Halifax report they are not
taking the steps they need to purchase their own home.
As the local authority aren't building any properties in Epsom, people still need a roof
over the head, and that is why, as I mentioned a few weeks ago in the Epsom
Property Blog, the demand for rental properties will only continue to steadily rise in
the coming decade. If you want to know where the Epsom Property market is heading
and where you should (and shouldn’t buy), keep checking back here at the Epsom Property Blog or send me an email to
ian@directresidential.co.uk.
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