Empty commercial space off Finchley Road

14 Rosemont Road , NW3. Just off Finchley Road near the O2 Centre

The mews garage has in the past been used for car repair and garaging , great location directly off the Finchley Road , near the O2 shopping centre and tube/British rail stations.

Suitable for Studio use, Mechanics, and new innovative businesses. Ideal workshop space.

Open to offers rent/sale – nirav@PropVestment.com / 07960 344399

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PropVestment is a specialist in off market properties. Please get in touch if you are looking to buy or sell, or rent or let out any residential or commercial spaces.

We have no listing fees. We have buyers and sellers ready.

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Will the “Help to Buy” scheme help home buyers?

The Chancellor, George Osbourne has announced the budget for 2013 and beyond. Overall the budget covers all aspects or work and life in the UK, however we are concerned with property.

The head line for property has been the “Help to Buy” scheme.

There are 2 options, one for new buyers and new homes only and one for all property and buyers.

Option 1: Help to buy – Equity Loan

-Is it applicable to any property?
No, just new build only

-Deposit required?
Yes, minimum of 5% deposit

-Do I have to be a first time buyer?
No, this scheme is available to all, not just first time buyers

-How does it work?
The Government will lend you up to 20% of the value of your property through an equity loan, which can be repaid at any time or on the sale of your home…so you will only need to secure up to a 75% mortgage from a bank or building society. It is interest-free for 5 years

-When does it start?
The scheme is available from 1 April 2013. It will run for 3 years and provide £3.5billion of additional investment

Option 2 – Help to buy – Mortgage Guarantee

-Is it applicable to any property?
New build and existing homes

-Will I need a deposit?
Yes, you’ll need a minimum of 5%

-Is it only open to First Time Buyers?
No, it is also open to existing homeowners

-How does it work?
You’ll need to secure a mortgage for your purchase. The Government guarantee should help encourage lenders to offer better access to low-deposit mortgages

-When does it start?
Available from January 2014, this scheme will run for 3 years

-Is there a maximum purchase price?
Maximum value £600,000

 Other points from the Budget 2013:

• 21 % corporate tax rate – potentially beneficial to buy rental properties into a company rather than private names
• Encourage to convert unused commercial space into residential

London Mayor, Boris Johnson has also secured £750 million for new build housing in the capital. This will boost affordable housing for middle income Londoners.

Official details can be found here: HM Treasury - pages 38 & 71

PropVestment’s thoughts

Overall we believe that the budget is progressive for the UK Property market, however it could have done more. However it seems that Help to Buy is more universal and will help more of the population. It is now for us to see how it filters through in reality. Many other schemes like NewBuy and FirstBuy have been less successful

Contact PropVestment today for a chat, we advise on all property investment queries. Lets make money from property

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Stringent lending stopping property investment

It has been a long standing observation that one of the main reasons the UK property market is struggling is due to the lack of funding in the market place.

We have had a series of funding schemes proposed by the government and other institutions to encourage property investment. These include the likes of NewBuy, FirstBuy, and Funding For Lending.

Funding for Lending is the latest scheme to encourage lending where the banks can borrow cheaply provided they lend it out to the public, be it as mortgages or commercial lending.

FirstBuy and NewBuy is primarily restricted to new builds, which benefit constructors but represent a very small proportion of the property on the market.

Over the last few weeks at PropVestment we have been working on a deal for a young professional first time buyer. However we have it a brick wall with strict, inflexible, non-subjective lending criteria by all the major lenders.

The investment property

LOCATION – Elephant & Castle – Zone 1 – London

• Elephant & Castle has £1.5 Billion being spent for regeneration.
• 2 mins walk to the London Underground and Bus stations.
• Opposite the famous “Strata Building”

 PROPERTY

2 Bed Duplex in Ex-council block, currently under full refurbishment.

• Each leaseholder has spent almost £40k for new concierge, lifts, windows
• 20th floor with views of London, from the Gherkin, Canary Wharf, O2,  Shard, all the way to Crystal Palace.
• Large Balcony. Full wall to wall windows across all rooms.
• 118 Year Lease

Rental expectation – upto £1500 per month currently. PropVestment predicts this will hit £2000 in 5 years. Strata building demands this level for smaller compatibles.

Asking price – £220,000

Gross Yield is over 8%

If lending 75% Purchase Price, there for deposit £55,000
If mortgage at 4% repayment over 20 years £1011 installment per month
Surplus for Buyer after mortgage £5868 per annum.
10.7% return on cash invested annually

The First Time Buyer

• Mid twenties
• £50,000 savings, plus £10,000 promised contribution from family
• £40,000 a year salary before bonus.
• Over £2000 monthly saving after expenses
• City working professional, currently living with parents
• Buying either to stay in and share or rent out fully.

Why the banks won’t lend?

•  Ex-council
• Concrete & Steel Construction

If the councils have approved a £40 million refurbishment of the block, clearly there is no risk to the building. Considering most of the block is still council owned they would not put so much of their own money in an unsafe building.

Being Ex-council ensures that maintenance is always prompt and reasonably costed.

The banks have very little risk here because the rental will cover the mortgage repayment by 135%, the usual criteria for Buy to Lets is currently 125%.
The buyer has £2000 disposable income every month, for any major shortfall or unforseen circumstance.

PropVestment’s Thoughts

After all this and almost a model buyer, why are the banks not lending?
Banks are given cash via the Funding for Lending scheme and still are not making it available to the public.

By the banks not lending, we, as in property professionals, end up having to offer such properties to cash buyers from abroad.
Ideally we want young property owners from the UK, however due to the circumstances the only investors that can afford to pay full cash are foreigners. This means that the profits also get taken out and do not recirculate in the UK economy.

The government must do something to ensure banks lend to boost UK home grown property investment.

For any property investment advise, analysis, deals or thoughts, contact us today for a no obligation chat. Sharing thoughts and ideas is how we progress.

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Our clients have a requirement of 15 retail units in London

• Food retail and coffee shops
• Leasehold
• 600 sq ft or larger
• Must be on High Streets with high footfall
• Up to £2000 per month rental

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Strictly Off Market Hotels for sale

Locations: Central London, North London, Reading, Great Yarnmouth

Minimum InvestmentL £2 million

For more details email info@PropVestment.com

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Interesting observations from property auction

This Valentine’s day, Thursday 14th February we attend the Allsop Residential Property Auction in London’s Cumberland Hotel. Never have we seen such a packed out property auction room, it is not a small venue however felt more like a cattle market.

As usual we will bring you some facts of what sold and what did  not sell in the property auction, as well as what properties were bargains and what were bank busters.

Key observations include the expected high priced sales in London in particular in area such as Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham. Properties in North of England did not sell well with most of those present in the auction purely focused on London property. Finally a surprise observation was that of ground rents. These seem to be longer term but much more secure investments, with the bonus potential when it comes to extension or other approvals.

There were many regulated tenancies, therefore sold much below the vacant value of such properties. There was a great deal of lots that were for the unconventional investor.

Property Auction: The numbers!

The Allsop Residential Property Auction featured 288 lots, therefore it was not possible for PropVestment to stay for all. We stuck around until Lot 87, which really meant 72 active lots, with 19 withdrawn or sold prior.

• Out of 72 lots, 56 sold with 16 where the Reserve was not met. 78% Success
• Average highest bid was £287k but the average selling price was £237k.   Average unsold lot highest bid was £459k. This shows that the higher value lots struggled, with sellers keeping higher reserves.
• Average sold lot was 27% higher price than the guide. Where as the average reserve not met lot was 3% under guide.

Residential Property Auction Bargains

• Lot 61 – 3rd Floor 3 Bed Duplex Maisonette in W13, London, Rent on AST at £22k – Sold for £150k ….almost 15% rental yield…. 98 years lease left
• Lot 76 – Freehold Public house in Wiltshire with a 9 year commercial lease at £24k rising to £25,880. Sold for £180k…. 14.4% Yield…pays for itself in under 7 years

Residential Property Auction Bank Busters

• Lot 32 – £1300 Ground rent investment, Sold for £54k, and the leases are 124 years to run, only 2.4% yield
• Lot 23 & 24 – Ground rent investment in South Kensington, £2k  and £2.4k per annum respective and went for £235k and £460k respectively. However there were flats in the buildings with under 25 years lease left. So the value is instilled with these rather than the ground rent income.
• Lot 53 – Commercial with 11 years lease, and flat on regulated tenancy in Dorset. Sold for £181k, currently yielding 6%

Upcoming Property Auction’s PropVestment will attend:

Barnett Ross: Thursday, 28th February 2013 12 noon Catalogue now online
Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, 22 Portman Square, London W1H 7BG

Salter McGuiness: Tuesday, 5th March 2013 1330 Catalogue now online
Quality Hotel, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0NH

Next Allsop Residential Property Auction Catalogue

Property Auction Final Say

Property auctions still seem like a great place to sell, especially if the property you own is not finance friendly. Meaning that traditional buyers will falter at a mortgage stage. There is a lot of auction activity at the large auctions but there is a massive bias to London.

PropVestment can help you vet potential investments and guide you to make the right choices for selling or buying property in auction. The property market is changing and you need to be fully informed prior to any decision.

Call us today for a chat: 07960 344 399

Previous Auction articles can be found in the Auctions section.

Official Allsop Results

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With the announcement of the HS2 today, there has been much in the media, with a lot of criticism. We at PropVestment want to focus on the implications of HS2 on the UK property market.

Economically this will create jobs and provided technology is sourced within the UK will benefit us in the long run.

In terms of the thousand or so homes effected, we believe they have been offered 110% the market value of their property prior to plans announced. Home owners have got a good deal, especially in some northern reaches where the UK property market is almost non existent as UK potentially drops into a “triple dip” recession.

How does HS2 effect the UK Property Market?

•   Reduce Pressure on London
  As commuting becomes easier with journeys under an hour from Birmingham to London, similar to a journey from Zone 4/5 to Zone one within London. Therefore many will choose to locate outside London. Benefiting from lower property prices and potentially larger homes.
• Revival of Northern Property Markets
  As from locations will be commutable to the major cities and London. Hence more people will choose to locate in those towns, boosting house demand and rentals too. Landlord’s and investors will find these areas as more attractive places to invest. First time buyers and young professionals out priced by London have the option of settling in Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds or Birmingham and able to travel more easily.
• Revival of UK Construction
  It is inevitable that there will be need for new home and in the areas surrounding the HS2. Primarily for the construction workers and secondary for the end users who look to make use of the HS2 rail link.

Where to buy UK Property Top Tip: Totan, Nottinghamshire

About Toton

Toton, Nottinghamshire

*facts sourced from BBC

• Toton is about 7 miles from Nottingham city centre by road.
• It is about 10.5 miles from Derby city centre by road.
• The nearest railway station is Attenborough.
• Toton is south of the A52, which links Derby and Nottingham, and west of the M1 (1mile).
• Postcode: NG9
• Previously well known as a train spotting location
• Borough of Broxtowe, East Midlands
• Population of only 8000

 Why invest in Toton

•  Excellent Transport Links
  1 mile to the M1
  HS2: Toton to London = 51 mins
  Toton to Leeds = 29 mins
  Toton to Birmingman = 19 mins
• Proximity to Derby & Nottingham
  Bustling cities in their own right. Extenuated by a buzzing student population. Brilliant for location for young professionals to settle with transport to London and Birmingham for jobs. Easy access to Nottingham and Derby for local and social ammenities
• Almost 20,000 jobs to be created around the Nottinghamshire region due to HS2.

Why you shouldn’t invest in Toton

•  Completion 2026 – 2032
  With so many years till the final user population settle in the area your money may stay idle for years. However currently a 3 bed house typically is around £200k, this may sky rocket. Easy returns could be made.
  Government projects often run late with delays, furthering the delay on returns for a property investor.
• Already priced in?
  On our research we were a little surprised at the pricing. Maybe locals have been ahead of the game and have partly priced in this expected good news.

PropVestment Concludes

PropVestment believes any large infrastructure project is beneficial to the UK property market and economy as a whole. It is up to the smart property investor to take full advantage of such opportunities and smartly invest in and around these areas. Get there early before prices correct.

PropVestment provides property investment sourcing and consultancy services for the UK property market. Experienced investors and First Time Buyers are invited to call us for a FREE consultation.

Call today its FREE 

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UK Property 2013 – House Prices, Lending, Supply, Rents…

There is always much speculation about how the UK property market will fair when we start a new year. How will the market correlate to the economy as a whole, and the biggest question of all is whether its recovering from the credit crunch?

• House Prices
• Lending
• Supply
• Rents

UK House Prices in 2013

House prices are low currently and the advise from PropVestment is that property prices will not stay low forever. Simple demand and supply, population is growing faster than new supply, together with smaller family units means shortage. Further lending is still tight but there is major pressure to improve. If you can afford to buy now, do it.

Today Rightmove are claiming that sellers are pricing 0.2% higher in 2013

UK Property Lending in 2013

Lending to first time home buyers in the UK increased 11% in 2012 compared to 2011, however this is still considerably lower than pre credit crunch. There is constant pressure on lenders to lend more but the criteria remains tight. Hopefully 2013 will mean more realistic and universal schemes rolled out by lenders, with more scope than last years NewBuy and FirstBuy.

With regard to Buy to Let, it is almost impossible to get interest only and most deposits are needed over 25%. Experienced investors should attempt to find alternative finance sources and release equity across other parts of their portfolio to fund the short fall.

At PropVestment we have a range of financing options available for investors looking for short or long term finance, including development and bridging finance.

Supply

Experts and government reports have suggested that 232,000 new homes will be needed to keep up with demand, however forecasts predict that only about 100,000 new homes will be built in 2013. This means that there is a shortfall needed to be filled.

PropVestment suggests investors and developers to undertake as many development projects as possible. If you are ahead of the game you will benefit from this over demand. Exit and sale will be easier in the current market.

Further planning laws are tipped to be relaxed to accommodate for the shortage, get in there early with local authorities and smart architects.

Rents

Rents are expected to remain high and increase as landlord’s attempt to cash in on high demand. Demand will remain high as much of the population find it difficult to start on the property ladder and are still not mortgage worthy. The influx of migrants from the EU will add to rental pressure especially in London and South East.

Landlord’s beware not to be greedy, get quality tenants in that can be sustainable in rent payments in the long term. There are increased rent arrears and evictions that prove costly to the landlord.

PropVestment: Where to buy in 2013?

Where you buy will depend on whether it is an investment or a residence. We will focus on investment properties.

London and the South East are always strong but currently heavily priced in. In particular due to the influx of foreign investors, who have a strong preference for the capital and are adverse to other areas.

Hence PropVestment’s advise is to focus your investments where there are major infrastructure and employment improvements planned.

Transport improvements, especially rail links that are commutable to the capital will appreciate and rent well in the coming years. Look around Cross Rail stations heading out from London.

PropVestment’s UK Property Market 2013 Conclusion

• High Prices
• High Rents
• Shortfall of new properties
• Difficult lending but will ease a bit
• Focus to buy near transport improvements

PropVestment provides all types of property sourcing services. We can arrange finance, protection. We have a range of investors that can invest in your projects or purchase your properties.

Contact us today for a FREE consultation
Sources of property email us today info@PropVestment.com

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Why First Time Buyers find it hard to buy in London

• High Prices
• Shortage of Properties
• Difficult lending
• SOLUTION – Sell council properties in Zone 1 & 2

This article discusses the various issues in the London housing market, addressing high property prices, housing shortages and high rentals. Linking these factors to the reasons why first time buyers are facing an uphill struggle.

I have lived in London my whole life and professionally work in the property industry with my company PropVestment. The aim is to provide information, analysis and property related services for investors. From my experiences in this field and from living in London my whole I make some observations.

First Time Buyers Problem:

Too high prices and shortage of properties

The first thing that caught my eye this week was an article titled “London councils breaking B&B stay limit for families” on the BBC News website. The main thing I understood from this article is that Westminster council has broken the law by not housing 134 families into housing and not B&Bs within 6 weeks. The main take on the article as reported is housing shortage.
However, why are there so many demanding housing in Westminster, arguable the most expensive borough. Surely if you are in need of accommodation you should take or be given where available and not be given location preferences.

Further I understand people seeking council housing in many cases never intended things this way, however in places where there is no council housing they fit into, why can’t they share with family or friends in whichever location is available, at least in the short term. When it comes to children, surely parents should have more responsibility before bringing a child into this world that there will be some sort of roof available and should the worst happen a “plan b” that does not rely on the state.

It is also the fact that in London we have highest number of asylum seekers, now I understand that most have very genuine reasons to be here. But if they have traveled thousands of miles to get to London, surely housing them a dozen miles outside London where B&B rates and property rentals are significantly cheaper makes sense. We the British taxpayers are paying too much unnecessarily, councils and the law makers need to wise up.

Link back to the original discussion about the first time buyer situation. As discussed in a previous article that appeared in the Telegraph, that there is £4.5Bn locked up in council properties. Ex-council properties represent a great proposition for first time buyers, I have benefited personally from this. However there are not enough on the market.
There is so much housing stock locked into the council both as held properties and rentals that there is a massive shortage. This shortage and high prices and rents is holding first time buyers out of the market.

If councils sold their properties in Zone 1 and 2, where you only have to walk around and see the vast council blocks. These properties are valued at multiples of the national average for similar properties, therefore the funds can provide the same multiples of housing if utilised in other parts of the country. This will solve the council housing shortage, no more use of B&Bs will be needed, saving the British taxpayer millions.

In addition this will increase supply of properties in London, so naturally prices will drop and become much more affordable for first time buyers.

Another article that caught my eye this week was in the Guardian, about the Packington Estate in Islington  where council tenants are only charged as low as 25 % of the market rent. Directly opposite private tenants pay the full rate. I understand the part of integrating society however this is unfair on business owners and will damage the economy.

The rents in an area are governed by market conditions, business owners pay full rents and this should represent the kind of business generated by the local population. If the people living in an area are not of the spending power of what is expected or represented in rents, how can businesses make money. Will someone paying 25% market rent generally go for a gourmet meal in the local bistro or visit the swanky wine bar?

Businesses suffer, pay less tax, extreme cases close down. London economy suffers.

Further paying marginal rents will result in a rise in illegal subletting at nearer market rents and so the council will be subsiding illegal businesses and cheat effectively.

Solution to help First Time Buyers:

- Sell of council properties, use funds to provide housing for many more outside zone 1
– Create supply for first time buyers to buy

PropVestment is here to help guide all first time buyers getting on the property ladder, we want changes in laws and we can more directly assist in best practises too.

In the new year we will be publishing a First Time Buyers guide, email info@PropVestment or Subscribe to the mailing list on the homepage to get your FREE copy.

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Dear Property Investor

Wishing you a Happy Diwali & Prosperous New Year

CLICK  to Watch Diwali Video 

We at PropVestment specialise in properties for investment

PropVestment provides:

• Property Sourcing
• Below Market Value Properties
• Advice for First Time Buyers
• Residential & Commercial Investment in UK
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Call today for a FREE consultation : 07960 344 399
Email: info@PropVestment.com
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