£7,400 Boost for Staines' First Time Buyers

There’s a whole legion of wannabe Staines first-time buyers keen to get on the property ladder and they now have a 3% price advantage over the previously quicker responding army of Staines landlords with cash at the ready. Since the start of April, buy to let landlords have had to pay an additional 3% stamp duty so whilst demand from some Staines buy to let landlords has dropped away, in the interim, it offers Staines first time buyers (FTB’s) a chance to fill the vacuum with less competition from cash rich landlords (over two thirds of BTL properties were purchased without a mortgage in the last 7 years) who could bid more and complete more quickly. Looking at the average value of an apartment in Staines currently standing at £249,800, that means if our Staines FTB went up against a Staines landlord, the landlord would have to pay an additional £7,494 in stamp duty. Early anecdotal evidence from fellow property professionals in the town is suggesting landlords are reducing their offers slightly on Staines properties to reflect the extra stamp duty.   Since 2011/12, the Staines property market has performed very well indeed. Over the last 12 months, £200,206,494 has been spent buying 558 Staines properties. Figures from the Land Registry have just been released and month on month in our council area property values are 0.8% higher, year on year 10.7% higher. Whilst still healthy, clearly these figures are nowhere near the heady days of 2000 (June to be exact), when Staines property prices rose by 28.5% in 12 months. So as property values in Staines (and the UK as whole) start to stabilise and come back to some kind of balance, we are beginning to see savvy landlords view the Staines property market in a different light. Even with the Spring Stamp Duty rush, gone are the days where you could make limitless money on anything that had a door, a few windows and roof. This stamp duty change has made more and more landlords take advice on what or not to buy and what to pay, meaning Staines landlords are being much more calculating with their Staines BTL purchases. We are also seeing a variance between relatively high sale price expectations on the part of vendors and a much softer reality when it comes to offers from purchasers as well as actual sale prices achieved, continue…. this in part reflects amplified uncertainty about the short term economic outlook (eg Brexit, Issues in the Far East etc). Now I know a lot of Staines landlords brought forward their BTL purchases to beat the stamp duty deadline. However, it is probable that hunger from Staines investors will return for the right Staines property later in the year, especially if it’s at the right price and offers a decent yield. However, in the meantime, Staines FTBs could and should, make hay whilst the sun shines, plug the gap and grab a bargain! Written July 2016