One of the key factors that determine the price of anything
is the demand and supply of the item that is being bought and sold. When it
comes to property, demand can change overnight, but it takes years and years to
build new properties, thus increasing 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
households forming and the number of new homes being built continues to grow,
we are in danger of not being able to house our children or grand children. I
believe the country is past the time for another grand statement of ambition by
another Housing Minister. Surely it’s right to give normal Stoke-on-Trent
families back the hope of a secure home, be that rented or owned? As a city, we
need to exert pressure on our local MP’s Tristram Hunt, Ruth Smeeth and Robert
Flello, so they can 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 Stoke-on-Trent City Council area in 2005, 620 properties were
built. In 2008 that number was 510 and three years later in 2011, it peaked at 650.
By 2014, that figure had dropped by 24.62% to 490 properties built.
The outcome
of too few homes being built in Stoke-on-Trent means the working people of the
city 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 after the war 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 Stoke-on-Trent 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 Stoke-on-Trent 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 Stoke-on-Trent 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 Stoke-on-Trent
landlords, who own the 16,020 rental properties in the city. 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 Stoke-on-Trent!
Moving
forward, those Stoke-on-Trent landlords have many pitfalls, both in the short
term and medium term. For instance, were you aware that the rules of changes
for new tenancies from the 1st October 2015 (with some imposing
penalties including loosing the right to require the tenant to vacate, if they
are done incorrectly) or in the medium term, the planned change in the way buy
to let’s are taxed?
More than
ever, the days of buying any old property in Stoke-on-Trent and you would be
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. One source
of info on all of these issues, where you will find other articles similar to
this on the Stoke-on-Trent property market, is the Stoke-on-Trent Property Blog
http://stokeontrentproperty.blogspot.co.uk/
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