Is this the end for first time buyers?

7,004 Cheltenham Homes bought by private landlords in the last 20 years – Is this the end for first time buyers?

People are always going to need a roof over their heads and the need for 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 one. In the 1970’s/80’s and 90’s, the expected thing was to save like mad for two years for the deposit whilst living at home or renting a cheap two up two down, then buy your first house. However, more recently fewer Cheltenham 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 Cheltenham was a different place. There were 41,187 households in Cheltenham and 27,611 of those were owner occupied. Move to the present, and with all the building in the town, the total number of households has increased by 24.4% to 51,251 and quite surprising (to me at least), the number of owner-occupiers has increased to 33,078 (although as a proportion, it is only 64.5% compared to 67% twenty years ago).

However, it’s rented sector that is truly fascinating … twenty years ago, only 3,986 properties were privately rented in Cheltenham ... and now its 10,990, a rise of 7,004.

The twentysomethings of Cheltenham housing difficulties haven’t been helped by the local authority selling off council housing, with the number of council houses dropping from 5,823 to 4,102 over the same twenty-year period. Demand for decent rented property remains high, as Cameron’s much vaunted house building program is years away and has decades of under investment to catch up on before it starts to affect demand. 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 Cheltenham and those who educate themselves and treat it as a business will survive and prosper.

The best way Cheltenham landlords can protect their income from property (and mitigate the affects 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, Cheltenham 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 is a business, so all private landlords should also seek the advice, opinion and commentary of property professionals.