Over the festive period, you and your family may play the board game Monopoly. The
buying and renting of property, it’s like a busman’s holiday for me! Interestingly,
the game was originally invented at the turn of the 20th Century (in
1903) and the game was initially called ‘The Landlord’s Game’! Anyway, after a few years in the wilderness,
the current owners of the game renamed it in 1935 and so began Monopoly as we
know it today.
So whether you are a homeowner or landlord in Cheltenham,
what would a Monopoly board look like today in the town? Property prices over
the last 80 years have certainly increased beyond all recognition, so looking
at the original board, I have substituted some of the original streets with the
most expensive and least expensive locations in Cheltenham today.
Initially, I have focused on the GL50 postcode only, looking
at the Brown Squares on the board, the ‘new’ Old Kent Road in Cheltenham today
would be Knapp Road, with an average value £100,000 (per property) and Whitechapel Road would be Manser Street, which
would be worth £119,100. What about the posh dark blue squares of Park Lane and
Mayfair? Again, looking at GL50, Park Lane would be Montpellier Drive at £708,100
and Mayfair would be Imperial Square at £1,096,100. However, look a little
further afield from the GL50 postcode, and such roads as Charlton Park Gate would
claim the Mayfair card at £1,840,000! Also, I can’t forget the train stations
(my favourite squares), and over the last 6 months, the average price that
property within a quarter mile of the station sold for was £307,500.
So that got me thinking what you would have had to have paid
for a property in Cheltenham back in 1935, when the game originally came out?
· The average Cheltenham detached house today is
worth £503,570 would have set you back 911 Pounds 2 shillings and 2 old pence.
· The average Cheltenham semi detached house today
is worth £290,370 would have set you back 525 Pounds 7 shillings and 4 old
pence.
· The average Cheltenham terraced / town house
today is worth £254,500 would have set you back 460 Pounds 9 shillings and 4
old pence.
· The average Cheltenham apartment today is worth
£200,570 would have set you back 362 Pounds 17 shillings and 10 old pence.
If that sounds like another
currency, you must be in your 20’s or 30’s, because it was back in February 1971, that Britain went decimal and
hundreds of years of everyday currency was turned into history overnight. On
14th of February of that year, there were 12 pennies to the shilling and 20
shillings to the pound. The following day all that was history and the pound
was made up of 100 new pence.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this bit of fun, but underlying
all this is one important fact. Property investing is a long game, which has
seen impressive rises over the last 80 years. In my previous articles I have
talked about what is happening on a month by month or year by year basis and if
you are going to invest in the Cheltenham property market, you should consider the Cheltenham property
you buy a medium to long term investment, because Buy to let is pretty much
what it sounds like – you buy a property in order to rent it out to tenants.
As I reminded a soon
to be first time landlord from Leckhampton the other week, Buy to let in Cheltenham
(as in other parts of the Country) is very different from owning your own home.
When you become a landlord, you are in essence running a small
business – one with important legal responsibilities. On
that note, I want to remind landlords of the recent and future changes in
legislation when it comes to buy to let. This year, rules have changed about
tenant deposits, smoke alarms and early in the New Year, landlords
will have responsibilities to do immigration checks on all their tenants.
Failure to adhere to them will mean a minimum of heavy fines in the thousands
or in some cases, prison ... it’s a mine field!
If I can help you in the new year, then please do contact me at neil.west@belvoir.co.uk
Seasons Greetings to you and your families.
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