Chard London Sales & Lettings Blog

Smaller flats to let in Parsons Green being snapped up quickly

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:43:00 +0000

Indicative of the London lettings market, this studio flat to let in Parsons Green was let by Chard's Fulham Lettings office on its second viewing.

Tenants are increasingly looking for smaller, well located flats to let in London, with a consequent reduction in the muber of studios and one bedroom flats currently available to rent in London.

Multitude of Utility Suppliers Causing Confusion on Account Transfers at Move In

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000

The explosion in the number of utility suppliers for property in London is causing a great deal of confusion when tenants come to move in.

Very often, where the landlord is managing the property there is no record of which company is actually supplying gas and electricity, particularly where the previous tenant has vacated.

It makes good sense for landlords of flats to let in London to keep a record of utility suppliers and account numbers for their let properties. As managing agents we do this automatically - and find it saves us alot of time, and is one less thing for tenants to worry about, at move in.

Flat to let in North Kensington - with lawned roof garden

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:09:00 +0000

At this time of year tenants want flats and houses to let in London with outside space and it's no surprise that this three bedroom maisonette has just gone under offer to let.

The property to let on Golborne Road, North Kensington W10 is arranged over three floors and has the unique distinction of a private lawned roof terrace with roof top views across a fashionable swathe of North Kensington.

It's proximity to Ladbroke Grove tube with access to Liverpool Street makes it suitable for bankers wanting a straightforward commute. The maisonette is also near the Portobello Road market.

Confirming a trend in London lettings, the property is now firmly under offer to three bankers, as sharers take up the slack for mid range properties to let in London.

Sharers return to London lettings market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Chard's central London lettings offices have noticed a trend towards professionals sharing. A phenomenon that had been increasingly rare in the last 12 months.

There's a growing shortage of affordable one bedroom flats to rent in London. Erstwhile first time buyers are staying put in rented accomodation and many others are treading water in the lettings market whilst they "wait and see" what happens to the sales market (despite prices actually still rising in prime areas of London).

Tenants are therefore clubbing together and finding that their cash when combined with a couple of friends or colleagues can go a remarkably long way. This three bedroom mews flat to let in Dove Mews, near Gloucester Road was snapped up by three bankers within a week of coming on to the market through Chard's South Kensington lettings office.

By combining together tenants are able to secure a far higher standard of accomodation than individually. Other benefits are that the costs of a cleaner can be shared three ways, and council tax and other outgoings should also be more affordable.

Rarely available - family house to let on the Pimlico Grid

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Chard's Pimlico and Belgravia lettings office has just been instructed to let a refurbished five bedroom family house on the Pimlico Grid.

Family houses to rent in Pimlico are extremely rare, as most have been carved up into flats. This four storey property has been completetly refurbished and is now available unfurnished for a long let

London Bucks UK Trend In Falling House Prices

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:31:00 +0000

As we've reported, property sales prices in prime areas of Central London like South Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Fulham, Brook Green and Belgravia etc continue to fare well, despite the falls in prices in the rest of the UK.

A report today on Bloomberg, quoting figures from the website Rightmove indicates that whereas prices fell 1.8% last month in the UK, in London they actually rose by a modest 0.3%.

Gareth Jones, MD of Chard London Estate Agents commented "The laws of supply and demand mean that London is still a great place to buy. The fact that prices are still rising, albeit marginally, in the face of reduced access to finance and very negative media coverage, shows that people want to live in London and own a slice of a very, very finite pie."

It's not all doom and gloom in the London property market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:17:00 +0000

It's not as gloomy as many would like to believe - in London, at least

This on the BBC website today - mirrors our experience of flats for sale in London in these supposedly "troubled" times, particularly with pied a terre and smaller investment property for sale in London.

UK Homeowners Forced To Become Landlords

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:05:00 +0000

A report of the website Landlord Expert confirms a trend picked up by Chard London Lettings a couple of months ago. More property owners are becomming Landlords.

There are naturally concerns at this influx of "newbies". Richard Saltmer, branch manager of Chard's South Kensington & Chelsea Lettings office on Old Brompton Road SW7 reports that he's seeing twice as many new landlords as usual, regularly as many as six a day. "It's important I spend time with them - most have no experience of renting either as a tenant or landlord so I'm having to take time to explain what's expected of them as well as what they can expect to see themselves. Some do have unrealistic expectations and its better to set the scene for them to save them - and us - alot of wasted time and money in the long run".

Oxford to create register of rogue landlords

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:54:00 +0000

The Oxford Mail reports that the city council is to create a register of rogue landlords.

Chard London Estate Agents will watch with interest - it's often been said that there are stringent checks on tenants' suitability to rent but none on landlords, who's obligations under tenancy agreements and housing legislation are arguably far more onerous. A volunatry sceme where landlords can be accredited by a local authority is arguably better than the possibility of a compulsory scheme. The introduction of EPCs into rental property is seen by some landlords as evidence of the government moving towards a compulsory inspectorate, adding further bureaucratic delay and cost to a process already covered by extensive, existing legislation.

Government "Rescue Plan" for Housing Market - "is not a cure"

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:49:00 +0000

Intersting reading on Estate Angels website that the latest govenment "inishitiv" is not likely to be of much benefit.

As more immediate and simple remedy in our view would be to abolish HIPs, seen by many as a tax on selling when people move up the housing ladder - thus freeing up more affordable properties.

Energy Efficiency a Major Factor When Renting Property

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:21:00 +0000

The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (EEPH) has announced that 9 out of 10 respondants are concerned about energy efficiency and 42% claim to be "very concerned".

The report goes on to suggest that tenants will welcome the forthcoming introduction of EPCs in rented properties. A spokesperson said it was a "win, win situation" for tenants, landlords and lettings agents. Sir Humphrey would no doubt approve.

At Chard London Estate Agents, in our experience of selling property in London, less than 1% of buyers actually ask to see the EPC when buying property.

Former Chard Tenant in Brook Green Returns as Landlord

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:05:00 +0000

A substantial proportion of Chard London Lettings business comes from recommendation as well as from many clients who have been with us for over a decade now - so a special welcome back to the landlord of this four bedroom house to let in Hammersmith, in Studland Street, W6. he had rented through Chard Brook Green Lettings office when he first moved to London and was so impressed by the level of service he received from our Brook Green team that he has now returned as a landlord.

Buy To Let Views - City Wire

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:49:00 +0000

An interesting article on City Wire appeared from a landlord of a flat to let in Notting Hill on City Wire regarding those with a vested interest in the market talking it up for their own benefit.

In response.....

"Rents for smaller, more affordable flats are rising. First time buyers are either short on confidence or on laying their hands on 30% deposits in a more realistic lending climate.

There's alot more property coming on to the market so forecasts of across the board rent rises may be a tad optimistic - in Central London, at least.

Vendors are turning to the rental market at the same time as major City employers are reviewing headcounts of middle ranking employees. New recruitment, whilst at a very healthy level compared to a year ago, is in our experience over the last 8 weeks at least, focused on employees with more modest rental budgets"

We're surprised that a flat in Notting Hill should struggle to let at more than its 2000 figure; "In 2000 I was able to let my flat in Notting Hill, conveniently placed for the tubes, buses, late night shops and Portobello Road, for £1,500 a month. Today I would be lucky to get £1,300 – in spite of having spent £25,000 on a new kitchen, bathroom and wood floors. My neighbour upstairs has had a flat on the market for months without finding a tenant. The reason – an excess of supply over demand.". I sincerely hope this particular landlord is not a Chard client! We'd expect to see a substantial increse on 2000 values for our landlords looking for corporate and city tenants today.

All we can say is maybe it's time to talk to Chard London lettings about finding new tenants.....

Housing Report From Centre for Economics and Leading Consultancy Findings: London House Prices Increased in Last 12 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:00:00 +0000

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), an independant consultancy has just produced a report commissioned by another estate agent in London indicating that house prices rose 6.4% in London over the past year. Whilst the rate of growth has slowed - we saw property for sale in Kensington rise by as much as 20% in 2006, it's hardly a "crash" either.

Flats still selling in Notting Hill and Kensington at and very near asking prices

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Chard Notting Hill and Kensington estate agents have just exchanged two sales; one at asking price and the other within a whisker of asking, further undermining the apocalyptic sentiments of the press, although rather less newsworthy than "House Price Crash"!. Property for sale in Kensington and Notting Hill at realistic asking prices is selling!

The first property, in Campden Hill Road W8, sold at 96% of asking. The other, a one bedroom flat for sale in Cambridge Gardens, off Ladbroke Grove, exchanged at asking price.

Of course there is more realism among vendors, but well located property, with a motivated estate agent is still selling - and fast. The Ladbroke Grove sale was agreed within 10 days of instruction.

Flats Let in Notting Hill Gate Before Builders Move Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Quality sells! Chard's Notting Hill and Kensington lettings office has just been instructed on a sole agency basis to let six refurbished flats in a Victorian conversion in Campden Hill Gardens, Kensington, W8.

We have already let two of the flats. The properties to let near Notting Hill Gate have all been refurbished to provide high specification accomodation - a mixture of flats and duplexes appealing to the corporate rental market.

We already have multiple viewings lined up over the next couple of days.

House Price Shock - again!

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:58:00 +0000

Another report in the Times today on the spectre of a house price crash.

I am amazed that there is so much shock horror at the fact that property doesn't always go up in value month on month. The problem is that we have got used to the ideal that you buy a property and it can't fail to increase in value! This is clearly not the case in any investment the is alway a downside as has been proven over the years. However saying all of that if you look at the long term growth of property for sale in London it is without doubt the most solid investment one can make and the benefit is, in most cases, we can also live in it and not pay tax on the profits.

I believe that there is still hard time ahead for the London property market and that prices will continue to fall, possibly for the next 18 month or so and maybe up to 20% in some areas with some desperate sellers. This doesn't nescessarily include prime central London however. There are still properties that are acheving good prices - we are seeing our first sealed bit today(the first for a long time through our Notting Hill sales office.

It has taken a long time for sellers to actually realise that the market has slowed and that they (sellers) are not completely in control. We have noticed over the last few weeks that vendors are now being reasonable and accepting offers that they poopooed months ago.

To sum up, buy now, buy well and the good news is that the market will come back and over a period of 3\5 years you should be looking at an real increase in value. Buyers now have a great deal more choice. Whilst London remains a world financial capital, strong demand will almost certainly mean that this choice will diminish over the next year as demand continues to remain very strong.

Gareth Jones
Managing Director, sales
Chard London Estate Agents

GE report that drops in house prices unlikely to be devastating

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:21:00 +0000

With the media focused on reporting any minor sign of a downtun in the UK property market (let us remember that prices for property for sale in Central London are still higher than a year ago!), it's good to have some common sense commentary from GE, as reported in Money Marketing.

Essentially what they are saying is that people who bought even a only couple of years ago are sitting on such massive capital appreciation that any minor drop is unlikely to affect the market by pushing significant numbers of people in to negative equity, as we saw in 1992.

This is especially true in prime areas of London, where very few buyers with over stretched financing have bought compared to the rest of the UK.

London Rents Forecast To Rise 6% in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:13:00 +0000

The trend towards renting rather than buying property in Central London is confirmed with yet another report predicting a 6% rise in London rental values this year.

Chard London estate agents offices have been reporting consistantly higher demand for affordable flats to rent in London since the start of 2008.

Myths about the London buy to let market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:43:00 +0000

News in the Independant newspaper today that the former Prime Minister Tony Blair's is likely to come unstuck with his property acquisition in Connaught Square, W2 doesn't ring true with Chard's experience both of the family house market of property for sale on the Hyde Park Estate and the buy to let market which the paper reports is now especially "vulnerable".

Chard's Bayswater estate agent team has a queue of buyers for sub 4M family houses in the area should Blair wish to sell! And as for the buy to let market - a few landlords buying with borrowed deposits and unaffordable finance are now out of the game - as are FTBs who were trying to borrow 5 and 6 times incomes on fixed rate mortgages. But these buyers only ever had walk on parts in the prime areas of Central London. The real story is that more people are renting and shrewd (opportunist?)landlords are now buying up affordable one and two bedroom flats to cater for the rising demand and to take advantage of increased yields.

At last - the builders move out and we have a finished house to sell in Kensington

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:11:00 +0000

After a frustrating start trying to sell a half finished house for sale in Bedford Gardens, Kensington W8 the moment has finally arrived. It's ready! The builders have gone - at last we have the final product of our client's labours to show, as intended.

I arrived with my applicant to view the 10.5M house for sale in this achingly fashionable part of Kensington on Campden Hill. Would the electric gates work? I was in my applicant's shiny new Bentley. It wouldn't be a good look if we had to park on the road. My faith in builders was restored as we glided in through the electric gates. Now, would the door-bell work?

I could relax a little. The god of builders must have been smiling. The sun came out across the water feature in the garden. The applicant was impressed. The 25 foot swimming pool in the basement looked amazing.

The buyer was more than impressed in fact. After half an hour viewing and making numerous calls the gates glided open once again as the Bentley sped off with the buyer hopefully on his way to count his cash and come in with an offer.

Mark Somerville
Manager,
Chard Notting Hill & Kensington Estate Agents

Another ex-local authority flat in Fulham sold to buy to let investor

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:57:00 +0000

Chard Fulham estate agents have just sold another ex-local authority property (in Douglas Johnston House, SW6) to a buy to let investor. The one bedroom flat had been on the market for several weeks already when, in common with the market over the last few weeks, it attracted alot more attention than usual.

Rising rents are increasingly leading many existing landlords to expand their portfolios, particularly of more affordable one and two bed flats to let in Fulham and other prime London areas.

First time buyers being squeezed in UK property market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:36:00 +0000

News in Property Week that first time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to buy due to the rising cost of renting rings true to a degree in London as well.

Chard' London lettings offices are reporting that rents on affordable flats to let are increasing. One and two bedroom property to let, in particular, is in short supply. Presumably as would be FTBs rent rather than buy. It's pushing prices, and thereby making it harder for them to save for more substantial deposits.

At the same time, sales prices, in prime Central London at least, are holding up very well. Relatively few buyers have difficulty raising large deposits and the buy to let market is very firm as landlords see yields rising on the strength of renewd rental demand.

Bottom line is that people who were buying a year or so ago on the fringes of affordability are now being squeezed out of buying. Whilst some may see this as "unpleasant medicine" for the market, it does mean that banks' (and the London property market's) exposure to an economic downturn is less vulnerable with lower loan to value ratios.

Graham Norwood's July Review - London Property Market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:49:00 +0000

It’s going to be a long hot summer in the city – and a slow one too.

The market’s top end, including almost all properties in central London, is still modestly strong compared with the outer boroughs which have major price falls. But even in these prime areas, transaction volumes are collapsing as buyers wait to see what happens in the autumn.

Data from Hometrack, using estate agents’ figures, shows major rises in the numbers of viewings and length of time it takes before a seller secures an acceptable offer; the agreed sale price is now, on average, almost 10% below asking price – which itself it lower than it would have been at the start of the year.

Wealthy buyers may be too rich to worry about interest rates but they do know how to find a bargain. At the moment, that’s done by simply waiting.

Some 60% of all property deals are discretionary (that is, people don’t have to move but just want to move) and this group is now sitting on its hands over the summer in anticipation of further price falls from September.

The real culprits of this crisis – banks whose practices prompted the freefall in confidence – need to act to steady the property market in London and elsewhere. And soon.

Graham Norwood, Property Journalist
June 2008

Nothing new under the sun in the London property market

noreply@blogger.com (Barry Manners) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:36:00 +0000

Parents will always stretch to buy homes within the catchment area of good local schools - there's hardly anything new about this! So we're underwhelmed to read in the Daily Telegraph that "House Prices Soar Near Top London School".

From the article it appears that for now it's only the asking prices have soared - again hardly a new story. There's no news on whether any have actually sold. Full marks though to this particular London estate agent's PR team for placing this particular story.

Chard estate agents in London are finding that there is alot more stock coming on to the market and buyers know it. Vendors are acutely aware that prices need to be realistic - which is why we are seeing more property now being sold than at any time this year.