Stockport Property News
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Buy-to-let investor hotspots
Glasgow has topped the list of cities with the biggest increase in the number of buy-to-let properties over the past year, with a 12% rise. Nottingham and Leeds came in second and third place respectively, both with growth of over 8%.
In spite of the ...
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Sales blossom in spring
In the past five years (excluding 2020 due to Covid), springtime bloomed with 27% of home sales, the highest proportion of any of the four seasons.
During spring, properties found new owners in an average of just 51 days, significantly quicker the 61-day winter average....
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Rise in over 50s buying first homes
The number of first-time buyers (FTBs) over the age of 50 has grown by over 30% in the past five years, while the proportion of those aged 30 and under is in decline.
Stretched first-time buyer affordability means that we are seeing more people waiting ...
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Landlord intentions for 2024
Just one quarter (24%) of landlords intend to increase rents in 2024, while 68% intend to maintain them at current levels and 8% plan to reduce rents.
Rents have risen rapidly over the past few years. With an average increase of £135 extra per month ...
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How listed buildings affect house prices
Listed buildings are structures of architectural or historic interest and are protected to maintain the heritage value of an area. We have over 409,000 listed buildings across Great Britain.
As well as preserving history, listed buildings contribute to the beauty of an area creating appealing ...
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Days of Christmas | A Boxing Day walk
The Christmas idyll is a snow-covered traditional village green with a beautiful church in the background and a red post box. Many Christmas cards feature this scene and some of us are lucky enough to live in places just like that!
There are over 5,000 ...
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Improvements in affordability
Comparing affordability levels through time helps us understand when a market needs to slow down (affordability is overstretched) or when a recovery can take hold (improved affordability).
A combination of factors (chiefly the expectation of better mortgage rates) will see affordability improve in 2024 and ...
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Families rent smaller homes
Rising rents and the cost of living are impacting the choices that renters make when selecting their homes.
An increased number of families are choosing smaller homes. In the year to June 2023, almost half of families with a household income of between £30,000 and ...
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Importance of community
World Kindness Day, celebrated annually in November, is a day to celebrate and promote kindness in all forms, uniting people in kindness globally.
Helping and meeting people and making friends are important in forming communities, a key consideration for renters.
Nearly two-thirds of renters consider ...
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Spreading the load
First-time buyers, faced with the rising costs of getting on the housing ladder, are finding ways to offset the increases by taking longer mortgage terms, flexible deals or paying higher deposits.
Over half of first-time buyers took a mortgage term of 30 years or longer ...
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EPC essentials: Watt you need to know
The regulation to require all newly rented properties to have an EPC rating of at least C by 2025 has been scrapped.
However, four out of every five landlords have already taken steps to ensure compliance, and nearly half of them have invested between £500 ...
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Investing in HMOs
Letting your property as an HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy) is a viable alternative to more traditional buy-to-let properties. Generally more profitable, HMOs provide multiple streams of income by letting out individual rooms at a higher rate than you would the entire property. This can ...
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Changing level of homeownership among young adults
Well under half of today’s young adults own their own home (41% of those aged 25–34). Although this has not changed much in the last decade, it was very different for their parents’ generation.
30 years ago, two thirds (66%) of 25 to 34-year-olds had ...
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Unlocking home ownership
With the close of the Help to Buy scheme, there is a clear gap for those looking for a low deposit solution to buying a home. Around 1 in every 100 households in the country live in shared ownership homes.
Shared ownership gives buyers the ...
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Gradual growth of new build gardens
The demand for gardens and other private outdoor spaces has grown since the pandemic, when we all re-learned their value – whether as a refuge to relax in or an opportunity to extend our homes with garden offices and outdoor entertaining areas.
There is a ...
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Portfolio landlords still looking to expand
More than a quarter of landlords who own five or more properties are planning to increase their portfolio over the next year, while one in five who have 2–5 properties are also planning to expand (Rightmove).
Over half of landlords are planning to keep their ...
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Many homes exempt from property tax
In the past year more than 60% of homes in Wales and nearly half (48%) of homes in England (excluding London) bought by home movers have been exempt from property taxation.
In Wales more than 90% of all 1-bed and 2-bed apartments sold for below ...
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I want to ride my bicycle
National Bike Week (5 June – 11 June 2023) celebrates over 12,500 miles of national cycle routes in the UK.
On average in England and Wales there are just over 2,200 households per mile of national cycle route. Per home there is over 1 metre ...
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A new way to rent
There’s a new type of rental home in the UK which could transform the experience of being a renter – and the number of these homes is growing fast.
‘Build-to-Rent’ homes have been purpose built for rental and are professionally managed by dedicated operators who ...
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Fit for a king
Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms will be crowned at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May. This will be the 40th coronation to be held at the Abbey since 1066.
In the past two years alone there ...
About The Blog
This Blog looks at what is happening in Stockport, the property market, events and community news along with investment ideas and tips for those loosing to invest in the area.