Northampton's private rentals have quadrupled over the last 20 years

There I was, out with the dogs at Stanwick Lakes last weekend, when a smart gentleman approached me. ‘Hello’, he said, ‘You are the person writes that Property Blog aren’t you? We have met before at that Business Networking event in Northampton a few months ago’. I did then recognise him and, whilst I won’t mention his name, he runs an independent retailers in the town…   It’s amazing who you see when out walking!  Anyway, I was at a loose end for five or ten minutes as the other half was sorting things with the family, so we had a chat. 

He wanted to know my thoughts on the future of the Northampton property market, and I would now like to share with you that conversation, my Northampton property Blog reading friends. People are always going to need a roof over their heads and somewhere to live will never go out of fashion – it’s a necessity for every single person.  The 22 to 30 year olds of the town have a choice to what type of roof they have; they rent from the Council, they can rent from a Private landlord or finally they can get a mortgage and buy a property. In the 1970’s / 80’s and 90’s, the expected thing was to save like mad for two years for the deposit (going without luxuries) whilst living at home or renting a cheap two up two down, then buy your first house. However, more recently fewer Northampton youngsters have been buying, choosing to rent instead – mainly from private landlords (as Councils have been selling off council housing on the Right to Buy Schemes). The numbers are truly staggering and I want to share them with you.

Roll the clock back 20 years and Northampton was a different place. There were 74,816 households in Northampton and 49,869 of those were owner occupied (35,407 with a mortgage). Move to the present, and with all the building in the town, the total number of households has increased by 20.2% to 89,984 and quite surprising  (to me at least), the number of owner occupiers has increased 56,623 (although as a proportion, it is 62.9% compared to 66.6% twenty years ago).

However, it’s rented sector that is truly fascinating… twenty years ago, only 3,635 properties were privately rented in Northampton and now its 15,921, a rise of 12,286.

The twentysomethings of Northampton housing difficulties haven’t been helped by the local authority selling off Council housing, with the number of council houses dropping from 15,327 to 11,355 over the same twenty year period. Demand for decent rented property remains high, even with the Buy to Let tax rule changes over the coming few years (which will see the maximum tax relief available to landlords drop from 45% to 20%), private landlords still have an important role to play in housing the people of Northampton and those who educate themselves and treat it as a business will survive and prosper.

The best method Northampton landlords can maintain their income from property (and mitigate the effects of the tax rises) is to keep the homes they let out in Grade A condition. I have found, especially over the last three or four years, Northampton tenants have ever growing demands from their rental property, but many are prepared to pay ‘top dollar‘ for houses and apartments that meet their high expectations. You must not forget, letting property in Northampton (in fact anywhere) is a business, so all private landlords should also seek the advice, opinion and commentary of property professionals.

.. and just as the other half had sorted the dogs, he asked ‘What of the news Stamp Duty changes for Landlords coming in April?’. My thoughts are with such low supply (i.e. numbers of property for sale), and high demand it is hard to imagine Northampton property values will see much impact – but I predict, ever so slightly, the proportion of owner occupiers should increase slightly compared to buy to let landlords in the coming decade as the housing market should return to balance.