Northampton Buy To Let – Demand and Supply

Following on from my recent article about the state of the Northampton property market and in particular what had happened to the rents Northampton tenants have been paying since the Credit Crunch, if you recall, I said rents in Northampton are still 4.86% lower than they were in 2008. A Northampton landlord has since rung me after reading the Northampton Property Blog, wanting to know more of the story of what was happening to current rents in the town. The reason he asked was that his current agent hadn’t increased his rent for a number of years and was concerned if he was getting the best return from his buy to let investment.

The Northampton rental market is all about supply and demand (isn’t it so in all parts of the economy?).  On the supply side, 345 rental properties have come up for let in the last 31 days in Northampton. It sounds a lot until you consider there are 15,921 rental properties in Northampton, which means only 2.16% of the rental stock of properties in Northampton are coming onto the market each month (it is normally around 5%).  One reason for this lack of new rental properties coming on the market is the fact that tenants seem to be staying in properties longer.

With this lack of supply, newer tenants have to pay more to secure the property they want. And this is the crux of the matte ... properties they want. Older properties in Northampton, that haven’t been maintained, still retain their wood chip wallpaper from the 1970’s and thread bare carpets have seen their rents drop. Tenants want either modern properties with all the mod cons or older style properties that have been presented to an exceptional standard – and they are prepared to pay for the privilege. Rents for top quality properties in Northampton have risen by 0.4% in the last month. Any properties, old or modern, put on the market in good or excellent condition will rent in a matter of days.

Interestingly, looking at Northampton property values, the Land Registry has just released the latest set of data on property values. Throughout April 2015, property values rose in Northampton, with 0.2% growth, meaning they are now 6.0% higher than they were a year ago.  When one looks at the regional picture, the East Midlands average property values rose by 1.4% in the last month. The difference doesn’t concern me, as the regional and local property values always even themselves out over the months.

Looking forward, after considering all the statistics and talking to other property professionals, I expect property values in Northampton to rise by 3% to 5% over the coming 12 months, following the Conservative victory.  In a forthcoming article, I will discuss how the number of properties changing hands each month has dropped considerably in the last 10 to 15 years in the town.

...And so back to our landlord. Each property is unique and so as his tenancy agreement allows him to inspect the property with notice to the tenant; we will be visiting the property next week.