£1000pw with nearly 7% gross yield - Clapham SW4

£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 tenants. I estimate £1000pw, yielding nearly 7% at asking price. Properties of this size are rare and will be snapped up very quickly by a group so low voids are nearly guaranteed. Definitely one for the shortlist. Give us a call on 020 3397 2099 for a price update on your current rental property if you think your tenancy is expiring in the next few months or drop me a line on email.

Click here to see the investment property in question

Excellent 3bed ex-local authority maisonette with garden - Clapham North SW9

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.

EPC - is your property going to fail?

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 and F rated properties. Perhaps more so now (energy prices have risen and inflation has devalued our currency since EPC introduction in 2008), but the consensus was that there was very little attention paid to the energy bill when making a purchasing decision.

This is all set to change from 2016 with the introduction of legislation making it compulsory for landlords to make improvements at tenants' requests in order to make the home more energy efficient; and by 1 April 2018 ALL landlords must upgrade the energy efficiency of the rental properties which are rated F and lower to a minimum of E by April 2018 or they will not be allowed to let until such time improvements are made.

So with this in mind, is your portfolio ready for the government’s continued eco agenda?

Source: The Guardian Online.

Looking for a bargain at auction? Look no further.

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 Cleveland Mansions, Mowll Street SW9

With Flats 4, 6, 16, 7 and 28 in the block all sold last year for 495k and over it looks like a safe bet, even if works are required. Estimated rental (depending on quality of refurbishment) between £500 and £550pw). I found another one in a neighbouring block too.
More photos on the late sales below, bear in mind most of these are listed as 2bedroom apartments so it would be interesting to compare layouts on the visit if you are indeed going for a look:

Comparable 1 - 28 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 2 - 6 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 3 - 4 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 4 - 33 Aigburth Mansions

Remember, as always, if you do have your eye on an investment property and you'd like to pick my brain to see if it's worthwhile drop me a line: Via email or ring the office for an informal chat: 020 3397 2099.

Rent controls, do we need them to stop rents from spiralling out of control?

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 suggests* that 77% of private tenants are in favour of rent controls. This would offer them a fairer deal. In the short term. If rent controls are introduced it would no doubt restrict the number of BTL investors, thus reducing the number of homes to rent. Less choice. Which is bad for consumers, in this case the would-be tenants. And consumers/tenants love choice. I can tell you a thing about that, it takes quite a few viewings before a tenant makes a decision on where to live! 20 viewings is not uncommon.

But as the Telegraph would suggest there is no problem to fix. There is no evidence that would-be homeowners are being pushed out of the market. With various help-to-buy schemes helping to fund deposits and so forth there is plenty of assistance. Would rent controls aid this further? Arguable.

With the elections upon us in the not all too distant future we are finding ourselves under attack by promises of fairer deals, lower taxes, more job opportunities, better education and so forth. But if we read past the headlines and the bold statements, does it hold water?


* Source: The Telegraph Online