The Clapham Property Blog

Yes, as the title suggests Southwark is a top target for shrewd investors who are leaving over-saturated markets for pastures new. Southwark is home to universally recognised and iconic landmarks such as the Globe and the Shard and this property finds itself tucked away within this catchment area.  To find a two double bedroom property that oozes class in the form of a new heating system and radiators, touch-screen thermostats that control the under floor heating in the bathroom as well as the kitchen and it has been completely rewired throughout too; with wooden floors, (that’s oak flooring not just the tacky beech effect some people gravitate towards like a bull does to a matador)! The lease has a whopping 115 years left, service charge is a puny £750, with just a symbolic £10 annual ground rent. Does one need more convincing?  Regeneration has already started here, with a gorgeous modern building (along with all the prestigious cars that grace it’s entrance) positio

Buy-to-let investors looking for a great yield should look no further than this great 3 bedroom purpose built flat in Streatham Hill. With an expected rental income of £425 per week equalling £22,100 per year, even at the asking price of £275,000 this gives any prospective buyer a yield of just over 8%. With long term fixed rate mortgages of up to 10 years with rates around 2% becoming available on the market this would look like a very sensible purchase. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48571028.html With the Streatham Hill property market currently booming and benefitting from buyers looking further afield to find somewhere affordable, any potential investor would also be buying into a market which is likely to provide them with an excellent level of capital appreciation in the medium term, on top of an attractive yield. The property itself, with a total internal area of 836 sq ft, is the size of a small house. Over two

It’s an age-old debate: do I buy something “nice” and hope for long-term capital appreciation, or do I buy something a bit less easy on the eye and get a brilliant rental yield? Take this property as an example: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50514578.html At first glance it appears to be a spacious three bedroom property with private garden.  On a second look we realise it’s a usually avoided high-rise tower block.  But wait, we have 3 double bedrooms in zone 2 with excellent transport links to the City, and just a stone’s throw from Battersea Park. So what makes this such a wise investment?  Surely investing in a Victorian property is a more attractive proposition?  Let’s look at this in more depth, comparing with a 3 bedroom Victorian mansion block flat on Prince of Wales drive, just around the corner.  Bought for £470,000 in 2001 and sold for £790,000 in 2010 the Victorian flat has seen price growth of 5.7% a

A client asked me for my advice on a buy-to-let investment not so long ago. He said he had £200,000 saved up for an investment property and wanted my advice on what to buy. He was looking to get a small mortgage of £50,000 and hence get a good difference between the monthly rent and the interest payments on the loan. Very sensible. We had worked out that over the years his property would go up in value and stand the test of time, and also give him a kitty for when things went wrong. Plenty of money in that kitty; from experience more than is strictly necessary. I posed the question “what if I could show you how to buy two properties with the same money and you can DOUBLE your gains?” He was interested. You see here is “le grand truc…” By taking the remaining £150,000 in our example and investing it in further properties you could quadruple your capital gains over time. You wouldn’t quadruple your cash flow as your interest payments would gobble some of that up, but nonetheless

What has the lettings market of 2015 told us thus far? We have found in the past that January was an extremely busy month. Up until 2013 we would say it was the busiest month of the first two quarters. This was driven by relationships made and broken over Christmas and New Year’s resolutions to find a new home. We found that one and two bedroom properties were most popular in the early part of the year leading up to Spring. 2014 and 2015 have been different. A different trend is emerging. This year and last we have noticed that there is a much higher demand for three and four bedroom homes. These offer a lower rent per person and are being snapped up quicker than they would have been a couple of years ago. I feel the main contributing factor is that tenants are now looking for bargains to minimise their spend on rent every month. This has also led to more and more tenants pairing up through on room share sites and through flat-mating events (equivalent of speed dating for

£1000pw with nearly 7% gross yield Kosta Giannakakis MARLA Branch Manager at XanderMatthew Currently for sale is this 6 bedroom house on Aristotle Road SW4. An ideal buy-to-let if you are able to go the extra mile and comply with HMO regulations. I classify this property a good find for professional sharers, offering excellent living accommodation (1500sqft) with mostly large double bedrooms. The property includes the necessities such as garden, garage and a nice open-plan kitchen/living, features that professional people will be considering upon their search. You won’t secure a better location to invest in, with this particular property situated right next to the underground tube (Clapham North) station and within close proximity of Clapham High Street which offers an array of fine restaurants, bars and the vibrant nightlife one seeks within this location. This is an exceptional opportunity for investment purposes, resulting in a high yield and attracting the finest tenan

Another stunner! I came across this one this morning and it is even more attractive than the one from earlier in the week. A three bedroom, split-level, maisonette in Clapham North, right next to the tube station. We have had similar properties in the past, which have achieved offers in excess of the asking price simply due to high yield. With an asking price of £365,000 and a location adjacent to Clapham North Tube and an estimated rental of £475pw it works out to 6.8% gross yield at asking price. Interested yet? Click here for full details Remember if you are looking at this investment, or others, feel free to drop me a line either here on the blog or privately via email or give me a ring on 020 3397 2099.

Energy performance certificates have been around for a number of years now; most sellers and landlords will be aware of their existence. They are however probably not aware of their importance. Granted, up until recently they weren't very important; but that is set to change. When Brussels imposed the EPC legislation on the UK (again the debate of UK's EU membership lights up, but that’s for another day) it was seen by the estate agency as red tape. "Buyers buy because they love the house, its local transport links, visual appeal and suitability to their requirements, not because they are spending less on their energy bill" was the argument from many an agent, me included. In London even more so, with flats being the home of choice for professional sharers and the bulk of properties in London being terraced houses, flats or perhaps even the odd semi-detached house the saving in energy consumption could have meant less than a £30 per month difference between A

Three bedroom apartments are always in high demand with sharers. In my experience they command the least void periods and provided they are refurbished to a high specification they always attract top-notch tenants. Gone are the days where renting a 3bed meant opening the doors to 3 rugby players that party all day and night. The gross of our 3beds are rented to respectable professionals with good jobs. Depending on the specification completely, but tenants range from graduate first-jobbers to qualified accountants, PhD students, doctors and lawyers. Naturally doctors and lawyers don't want cheap IKEA furniture though! I saw this lot in the auction for 17th February with Savills and it represents an ideal opportunity. With over 100 years left on the lease and situated in a convenient spot between Oval and Stockwell it's ideal for those who want a serene home life and do their socialising in the City. Click here to see the Savills Auction Property in question - 24 Clevelan

Not a day goes by that we don't hear about the London property market, and namely that rents are astronomically high. Higher than other parts of the country of course. But so are earnings; and food; and transport; and everything for that matter. We are frequently hearing from tenant action groups calling for lowered rents and a fairer deal for tenants. But what about landlords? Nobody is campaigning for lower mortgages and better laws to stop tenants from withholding rents and so forth... The latest comes in the leadup to the elections with Labour touting Rent Controls as the latest gimmick to sway voters. Or renters should I say. I can't imagine that many landlords would embrace the idea of the government telling them how much rent they can earn from their investment. That's like the government interfering with the stock market, limiting the rise and fall of share prices. One argues that renters are being squeezed out due to rents being unaffordable, and research sugge