Monday, 27 April 2015

Ground floor 1 bed apartment in Burley with 9% return


This attractive 1 bed flat located in Burley Wood Court is in a prime location for professionals. Located on Kirstall Road it's just set back off the main road with a bus stop straight outside making it ideal for commuters with Leeds City Centre less than 10 minutes away. It's also just a stones throw away from Cardigan Fields which is home to a cinema complex, gym, bowling alley & bars and restaurants so location wise this property has fantastic appeal and would easily rent out.

This ground floor flat is on for just under £80,000 and from the looks of things, doesn't need much if any work doing for it to be rented out. We've rented out a similar flat in the same block for £565pcm. If you managed to get it for around £75,000 that would then give you a 9% return.

Friday, 17 April 2015

Average Property Values in Headingley and Burley since 1995

The graph below shows what has happened to average property values in both Headingley and Burley since 1995.  The graph is interactive, so as you hover over the lines, it will show the £ amount as well .. enjoy!

Friday, 10 April 2015

Property values in Headingley remain static pre-election


Property values in Headingley remained static in March, with neither a rise nor fall, as Headingley people held their breath as to whether the Tory’s would return or we would have a Labour/SNP coalition. This followed several months of sluggish activity in the Headingley property market in the run up to the Election, leaving the average price of a property in Headingley at £227,900, still 4.1% higher than in March 2014. Despite the lack of change, the figures showed property values in Headingley were still higher in the first quarter of 2015 than in the last quarter of 2014. 

Interestingly, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Estate Agent trade bodies over the last few months have reported seeing a fall in mortgage lending and enquiries from prospective homebuyers. This is important because it comes amid an overall fall in housing market activity in Headingley. Data from the Land Registry said completed house sales in the Headingley and Leeds area in the three months to January 2015, (the most up-to-date figures available) fell by 14.8% compared to the same three month period up to January 2014.

However, I believe that the slowdown in property sales in Headingley is supporting Headingley property values, as there is a shortage of houses coming onto the market. Even though in the whole of the first Quarter of 2015, Headingley property value increases may seem subdued when compared to 2014, let us remember, property values are still rising well above the level of inflation. 

As I have said many times before, the population in Headingley is growing at a much higher rate than the number of properties being built. This increasing demand for a roof over people’s head, which is outpacing the supply of new houses being built in Headingley, is creating a severe imbalance in the Headingley (in fact the whole of UK’s) housing market, thus making homeownership an ever increasingly distant dream for many of Headingley’s potential first time buyers.

In fact, I still maintain the view that house prices are likely to rise by around 3 to 5% in Headingley in 2015, even after taking into account this blip at start of the year. The reason being is that the rise reflects both strong economic conditions and steady market conditions with (and this is the most important factor) very low numbers of properties on the market. 

Many Buy to Let landlords know that investing in the Headingley property market is a long-term strategy of 10, 20 even 30 years. Governments come and go, but unless Leeds City Council start to build thousands of new properties a year to make up for the shocking lack of supply, Headingley people will always want a roof over their head, and irrespective of which party is in power, if there aren’t any council houses and they can’t (or are unable to buy), a demand for rental properties will always remain.

Friday, 3 April 2015

2 bed flat in Headingley with 8% yield



The mornings browse through Zoopla has uncovered another possible gem in Headingley. It's on the market at £118K in Grosvenor Park Gardens with Cornerstone Estate Agents. Therefore, great property in great location, which will be a great rental = RESULT!

These properties are in good demand by tenants and we recently rented another 2 bed flat in the same development for £740 per month.

If you managed to get a little off the asking price and got it for £110,000, and then rented it out for the same that we got for ours, this would give you a yield of 8% so it would definitely make a good property for your portfolio.

I can't see this property staying on the market for long so check out the details at: