The Clapham Property Blog

The value of all the homes in Clapham (or SW4 to be precise) has risen by more than 324% in the past two decades, to £3.391bn, meaning its worth more than the stock listed company Derwent London, which is worth £3.306bn. Those Clapham homeowners and Buy-to-Let landlords who bought their homes twenty or more years ago have come out on top, adding thousands and thousands of pounds to the value of their own Clapham homes as the younger generation in Clapham continue to be priced out of the market. This is even more remarkable because, in those twenty years, we had the years of 2008 and 2009 following the global financial crisis, where we saw a short term drop in Clapham house prices of between 15% and 20% (depending on the type of property). And although there have been a number of consecutive years of growth in property values recently in Clapham it hasn’t been anywhere near the levels seen in the early 2000’s. Twenty years ago, the total value of Clapham property was worth

Buying and selling a home in Clapham isn’t the easiest or cheapest thing you will ever do. Estate Agent fees, Solicitors fees, Survey fees, Mortgage fees, Removal Van … the costs just mount up throughout every step of the move. Last week, a Clapham landlord asked me whether the Council Tax Band made a difference to a property’s appeal, be it tenanted or to owner occupiers, when it comes to being sold on the open market and whether extensions or improvements made a difference to the tax banding? Well, like I said, the first point you should always be aware of is what Council Tax Band your new house or apartment will fall under. Being aware of this before you buy/move will help when planning month by month for life in your home (or investment). But what exactly are Council Tax Bands, and how do they affect landlords/tenants/homebuyers? How much Council Tax you pay depends on two variables. The first is which Council Tax Band your property is in. A property is placed into a

The degree to which young Clapham people are locked out of the Clapham housing market has been revealed in new statistics. A Clapham landlord was asking me the other week to what effect homeownership rates in Clapham in the early to middle aged adult age range had affected the demand for rental property in Clapham since the Millennium. I knew anecdotally that it affected the Clapham rental market, but I wanted some cold hard numbers to back it up. As you know, I like a challenge when it comes to the stats.. so this is what I found out for the landlord, and I’d like to share them with you as well. As anyone in Clapham, and most would say those born more recently, are drastically less likely to own their own home at a given age than those born a decade earlier, let’s roll the clock back to the Millennium and compare the figures from then to today. In the year 2000, 29.3% of Clapham 28-year olds (born in 1972) owned their own home, whilst a 28 year old today born in 199