I know anything with statistics in the title isn’t necessarily going to get anyone excited, well apart from me perhaps, however I wanted to share some recent information that appeared on my desk after a visit from the Valuation Office.
According to the Valuation Office Statistics for Weymouth and Portland Local Authority Area the following availability and price changes have occurred:-
| Period Ending | Count | Mean (Average) | Percentage Change (Availability) | Percentage Change
Price PCM |
| Studio | ||||
| Sept 2014 | 28 | 384 | ||
| Mar 2016 | 40 | 382 | +43% | -0.5% |
| One Bedroom | ||||
| Sept 2014 | 400 | 489 | ||
| Mar 2016 | 340 | 504 | -18% | +3.1% |
| Two Bedrooms | ||||
| Sept 2014 | 679 | 634 | ||
| Mar 2016 | 560 | 652 | -21% | +2.9% |
| Three Bedrooms | ||||
| Sept 2014 | 331 | 750 | ||
| Mar 2016 | 280 | 784 | +4% | +4.4% |
| 4 (or more) Bedrooms | ||||
| Sep 2014 | 73 | 958 | ||
| Mar 2016 | 80 | 1050 | +9% | +9% |
| Total Available Sept 14 | 1511 | 3215 | ||
| Total Available Mar 2016 | 1300 | 3372 | -16% | +5% |
In brief, it would appear that in Weymouth & Portland the availability of one and two bedroom properties has dropped by around 20% and rental prices have increased by on average 3%, three bedroom home availability has increased by a modest 4% and prices have also increased by just over 4%, four bedroom properties have seen an increase in availability along with the largest percentage price change of 9%.
Overall availability has decreased by 16% with the average price increase over the period working out at 5%.
What we find surprising is the availability of three and four bedroom properties as shown above, we have found that this year that family homes have been in short supply, hence the steeper increase in rental values, having said that the availability of four bedroom or more homes is only a fifth of the availability of two bedroom homes, there are also twice as many two bedroom homes to three bedrooms, families as a whole are struggling to find homes available for long term let, this may well be reflected in the next report.
As a landlord you should make sure that you review your rents regularly, after all with four bedrooms or more, on average a 9% increase in eighteen months is nearly £1200 per annum, and even two bedroom homes have seen an increase of over £200 a year. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend increasing the rent every year, however any landlord needs to ensure their assets are working for them and even though a tenant may not like a rent increase if it is in line with other properties they won’t gain anything by leaving. It is also particularly important to review your rents when a current tenant decides to leave and before you commence re-marketing.
If you would like to discuss rental values or any other property issues please feel free to call us.
