Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Harrow property market?
“With UK house prices rising by 13.2% in the last 12 months, many Harrow homebuyers have chosen to move into rented accommodation. In this article, I talk about what this means for Harrow homeowners and landlords and how it will affect the Harrow property market as whole.”
Rayners Lane Homeowners Have Turned to the Rental Market to Cash in by £6,800 Each
Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Rayners Lane property market?
I have calculated that at least 27 Rayners Lane (HA2) house sellers have rented a home to break their house chain in the last 12 months, although at a cost as they face paying many thousands of pounds in rent.
There are a number of reasons behind this. One is because they cannot find another Rayners Lane property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Rayners Lane properties coming to the market. Although, there are others who have achieved such a high price for their home they have decided to cash in and are (hopefully for them) waiting for the Rayners Lane property market drop?
Or will it drop? (More on that later).
Those selling their home have seen the …
average Rayners Lane home rise in value in the
last 12 months by £6,800.
Yet, if they have had to go into private renting, they have paid for that privilege in the rent they have had to pay.
The average cost of a six-month rental agreement in Rayners Lane is £7,628, meaning accidental Rayners Lane tenants have pumped £205,951 into the Rayners Lane rental market in the last 12 months.
The unevenness between the number of properties for sale and demand for them is at its widest since the early 2000’s. Whilst we have seen a slight improvement in the number of properties for sale in Rayners Lane, there are only …
2% more homes up for sale today in Rayners Lane,
compared to August last year.
This recent shortage of Rayners Lane property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Rayners Lane homeowners from putting their property on to the housing market, anxious they will not be able to find their next home and will be left renting.
Yet some savvy Rayners Lane homeowners are moving into a rented property as a way to navigate the shortage of properties to buy. If you have someone offering you top dollar for your Rayners Lane home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Rayners Lane home will more than offset the rent.
Also, when you come to buy your next Rayners Lane home, you will be chain free and in pole position to buy your ‘forever home’, rather than being overlooked for the home because you are sold stc and burdened with a chain.
Yet this trend has made life tougher for long-term Rayners Lane tenants.
On average there were normally 365 to 440 properties available to rent in Rayners Lane on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 180 available.
To give you an idea of how this has affected the Rayners Lane rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent …
the average rent in Rayners Lane has grown from £1,271 per month a year ago to £1,298 per month today.
Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Rayners Lane property rental market, with few indications it’s going to significantly ease on the run up to Christmas.
So, what is going to happen to the Rayners Lane property market?
Well, those of you that follow me know I regularly write about the Rayners Lane property market in my property blog. If you would like some recent articles I have written about the future of the local property, either drop me a line and I will send you some links to those posts, send me a DM or contact me by telephone.
In the meantime, please do share your thoughts on the matter in the comments.