Month: March 2017

‘Flipping’ Heck – Letchworth Property Values Rise by £51.78 a day

Investing in Letchworth buy to let property is different from investing in the stock market or depositing your hard-earned cash in the Building Society. When you invest your money in the Building Society, this is considered by many as the safe option but the returns you can achieve are awfully low (the best 2-year bond rate from Nationwide is a whopping 0.75% a year!). Another investment is the Stock Market, which can give good returns, but unless you are on the phone every day to your Stockbroker, most people invest in stock market funds, making the investment quite hands off and one always has the feeling of not being in control. However, with buy to let, things can be more hands on. One of the things many landlords like is the tactile nature of property – the fact that you can touch the bricks and mortar. It is this factor that attracts many of Letchworth’s landlords – they are making

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Calling all Letchworth investors……

Meet the demand for three bedroom rental properties in Letchworth with this great investment opportunity – on the market at £270,000. Take a look at our video and call Satchells  Letchworth office on 01462 480077 before this property goes!   Take a look at the advert here  

How The Rented Sector Has Transformed The Property Market In Letchworth

A few weeks ago, the Government released a White Paper on housing. I have had a chance now to digest the report and wish to offer my thoughts on the topic. It was interesting that the private rental sector played a major part in the future plans for housing. This is especially important for our growing Letchworth population.In 1981, the population of North Hertfordshire stood at 108,600 and today it stands at 131,700. Currently, the private rented (B-T-L) sector accounts for 9.5% of households in the town.  The Government want to assist people living in the houses and help the economy by encouraging the provision of quality homes, in a housing sector that has grown due to worldwide economic forces, pushing home ownership out of the reach of more and more people. Interestingly, when we look at the 1981 figures for home ownership, a different story is told. 53.01% Letchworth people owned their own home in 1981 38.08% Letchworth people rented

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Letchworth’s ‘Generation Trapped’ and the £2.9bn legacy

Last week, I wrote an article on the plight of the Letchworth 20 something’s often referred to by the press as ‘Generation Rent’. Attitudes to renting have certainly changed over the last twenty years and as my analysis suggested, this change is likely to be permanent. In the article, whilst a minority of this Generation Rent feel trapped, the majority don’t – making renting a choice not a predicament. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicted that the private rental sector is likely to grow substantially by 1.8m households across the UK in the next 8 years, with demand for rental property unlikely to slow and newly formed households continuing to choose the rental market as opposed to buying. However, my real concern for Letchworth homeowners and Letchworth landlords alike, as I discussed a couple of months ago, is our mature members of the population of  Letchworth.  I stated that the current OAP’s (65+ yrs) in Letchworth were sitting

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‘Generation Rent (Forever)’ – 1,077 Letchworth Tenants have no intention of ever buying a property to call home

The good old days of the 1970’s and 1980’s eh … with such highlights low lights as 24% inflation, 17% interest rates, 3 day working week, 13% unemployment, power cuts … those were the days (not)… but at least people could afford to buy their own home. So why aren’t the 20 and 30 something’s buying in the same numbers as they were 30 or 40 years ago? Many people blame the credit crunch and global recession of 2008, which had an enormous impact on the Letchworth (and UK) housing market. Predominantly, the 20 something first-time buyers who, confronting a problematic mortgage market, the perceived need for big deposits, reduced job security and declining disposable income, discovered it challenging to assemble the monetary means to get on to the Letchworth property ladder. However, I would say there has been something else at play other than the issue of raising a deposit – having sufficient income and rising property prices in

read more ‘Generation Rent (Forever)’ – 1,077 Letchworth Tenants have no intention of ever buying a property to call home