As we dive quickly into the ‘autumn term’ with summer holiday memories fading fast, it seems sentiment amongst property investors and landlords is still relatively cautious as many await Rachel Reeves upcoming autumn statement to Parliament in October.
The Renters Rights Bill is now working its way through Parliament and inevitably there is widespread media comment on some key items being proposed, such as the abolition of Section 21 evictions and the timetable to do this. On page 52, Maxine Fothergill discusses this legislation and its impact.
With a reported 23% of landlords in London looking to sell a rental property, according to one source, this contrasts sharply with the staggering sums now being spent by local authorities on short-term housing accommodation. The ‘rental supply crisis’ is evidently getting worse not better. I am not sure whether those in power actually understand ‘cause and effect’, but the results are very stark and exactly what many in the sector said would happen when the Section 24 tax changes were brought in some eight years ago.
On page 14 our lead article looks closely and in some detail at the likelihood of the government’s widely aired aims of building 1.5m new homes in the next five years. Do read this slowly and absorb the conclusions we make and then ask yourself if there is an investment opportunity ahead. It might take quite a few readers about half a second to reach that conclusion.
One positive, which is being welcomed by many, is the likelihood of reduced borrowing costs with some analysts expecting bank rate to be around 4% or less in a year’s time. As we report on page 32, in an insightful interview with James Vince, the lenders have been rapidly reducing rates on a daily basis and in some cases the deals on offer are almost 2% less than a year or so ago.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors are also reporting a more positive shift in market sentiment with property sales improving and the expectation is for buyer demand and sales activity to increase ahead.
Inside this edition we have a very insightful and noteworthy article on page 22 from our regular columnist Adam Lawrence, where he offers some comprehensive analysis on a subject that many have some clear assumptions about. The results may surprise many but for me it reinforces what I have always maintained, in that property investing is not about the short term and it’s the overall return over time that really matters.
Purely by coincidence, our main investor interview this month on page 18 with Rachael Troughton reaffirms the value of investing in locations where regeneration trends are positive and again the evidence for taking a long-term view is clear.
In just a few weeks time we return to exhibit at London’s Excel Centre for the Property Investor Show on 4-5th October and we look forward to meeting some of you
once again.
