Roll the clock
back 35 years to 1981, and Mrs. T was in power, we had a Royal Wedding, Britain
won the Ashes and Bucks Fizz won Eurovision with ‘Making your Mind up’. Haven’t things changed. The number of homeowners and property
investors who said they wish they had hindsight and bought up every house in
Dartford all those years ago, especially when you consider what has happened to
Dartford property values, as…
Dartford Property Values since 1981 have risen by
942%.
Not bad when you consider inflation over the same time
period has been 271.9%, meaning in real terms (i.e. after inflation), property
values in Dartford are 670.1% higher.
It’s no wonder people can’t afford to buy property anymore and landlords
are attracted by bricks and mortar. Yet the changes to the Dartford Property
market run much deeper than property value changes as no one could have
predicted how the property market has changed in Dartford over the last 30
years.
Looking at the Local Authority data for Dartford
Borough Council in 1981, 28.9% of Dartford people lived in a Council House,
whilst today its 14.8% ... a massive drop which can mostly be attributed to
Margaret Thatcher allowing Council tenants the right to buy their Council
House. The private rental sector since
1981 has, as one would have expected, also changed. The proportion of properties privately rented
in the Dartford area (i.e. through a private landlord or a letting agency) has
almost doubled, rising from 8.6% to 15.9% of property. So, let us consider those people who own their own
home, surely that has had a massive drop?
In 1981, the proportion of people who lived in the Dartford Borough
Council area who owned their own home was 62.4% … and today its … 66.9%. Not the seismic change most of you were
expecting (including myself!). Homeownership in the 1980’s and 1990’s in Dartford did
in fact rise, but as I have discussed in previous articles in the ‘Dartford Property Report’, that was because
nearly every Council tenant was buying their council house. Now there are
hardly any Council houses for the younger generation to move into (because of
the right to buy scheme) so they have no choice but to privately rent.
.. and this is why the buy to let market in Dartford
is an investment sector that will continue to grow as councils aren’t building council houses in their thousands
each year (like they were in the 1950’s/60’s and 70’s). The Dartford property market is constantly changing and buy to let
for too long has been heavily dependent on house price growth, where yield has
been almost forgotten. I see the changes in tax and landlord and
tenant law in a different perspective to the sooth-sayers and see it as
bringing many opportunities where yield will become more important. You might need to change your buy to let
targets, your methodology to financing or even consider places other than
Dartford in which to invest your money, but this will shine a light on
investing in properties with healthier yields and create more realistic long
term buy to let opportunities, instead of short term growth bets and wagers.
Like Bucks Fizz said
in their song, it’s time to make your mind up. The advice I give to my
landlords, and also to you my blog reading friends is this; these changes will
make some landlords panic, meaning competition for decent Dartford buy to let
bargains will reduce as fear of change kicks in and amateur investors flee the
market. These opportunities will provide
a more stable platform for knowledgeable and wise Dartford buy to let landlords
to thrive in. If you want to learn more
about the Dartford Property Market, feel free to pop in for a coffee and chat
with me, or failing that, visit the Dartford Property Blog, where you will find
many more articles like this solely on the one topic of the Property Market in
Dartford www.dartfordproperty.blogspot.co.uk
