August 24, 2022 | Mariel Roe
House prices have fallen for the first time this year, the under-30s are the age group most likely to face unaffordable rents, and mortgage rates are expected to rise imminently. But it’s not all doom and gloom! Read on for all this and more in August’s property market update.
Figures released by property website Rightmove have revealed a drop in house prices for the first time this year.
According to their data, the average asking price for a UK property fell by almost £5,000 in August to £365,173 – a loss of around 1.3%.
The fall in house prices was largely expected, with August traditionally being a quiet month for the property market as summer holidays are in full swing and homeowners are holding off moving until children go back to school.
The drop in prices isn’t expected to last, with property experts predicting rising prices again from September onwards.
Data released by a leading property market consultancy has revealed that under-30s are spending more of their income on rent than any other working-age group.
The figures, which cover 150,000 under-30s show that 40% are spending more than 30% of their salary on rent – the highest figure for five years.
While the least affordable areas are unsurprisingly in London, rent affordability for young people is a growing problem around the country, with Rotherham, Bolton, Salford, Dudley and Walsall all appearing high on the list of unaffordable places.
The increase in rental costs is largely being driven by a shortage of properties on the market and an increase in demand, with reports that some renters are offering to pay over the asking price each month to secure a property, even when they can’t afford it.
Mortgage rates are expected to rise by as much as 0.5% next month, following a double-digit rise in inflation.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will be meeting on 22nd September, when an increase is expected to be announced, with most leading economists forecasting a 0.5% rise in interest rates, up from the previously expected 0.25%.
The increase will mean another rise in mortgage repayments for homeowners on variable and tracker mortgages, but for homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages coming to an end, there’s still time to refix based on the lower rates prior to 15th September.
The popular flat-sharing website, SpareRoom, has revealed that a growing number of over-50s are looking for houses and flat shares to cope with rising rents.
Their figures show a staggering 239% increase in demand from 55 to 64-year-olds since 2011 and a 114% increase in demand from 45 to 54-year-olds.
25 to 34-year-olds still make up the majority of sharers. Still, a senior director at SpareRoom expects the rise in demand from the over-50s to continue, as the cost of living increases and solo renting becomes more unaffordable for many people.
The findings are common across the sector, with another leading flat-sharing website revealing a big increase in demand from over-55s. Cohabitas, which focuses on over-40s, has seen a 51% increase in demand from 55 to 64-year-olds looking for a shared property in the past six months, while they’ve also seen a 44% increase for all users in the same time period this year, compared with 2021.
The Cornish cottage which features in the popular ITV drama Doc Martin has been put up for sale by its owners.
Fans of the show, which stars Martin Clunes as the grumpy doctor, will know the cottage from its fictional setting of Portwenn. However, in reality, it’s based in the charming coastal hamlet of Port Isaac, which is known for its cobbled streets, picturesque fishing harbour and stunning seaside views.
Filming for the show’s 10th and final series has already taken place, so would-be buyers won’t have actors and a camera crew to contend with any longer, although fans of the show are likely to still flock to the village.
If you’re interested in owning a small piece of TV history, the property is for sale with an asking price of £1.15 million.
London Youth work to improve the lives of young people in London, challenging them to become the best they can, and last year helped over 27,000 young people through their sports development, youth action and involvement, arts and outdoor education programmes and employment prospects. We feel strongly that all young people should have an opportunity to develop themselves, and so are delighted to be able to support London Youth in their work, providing young people with access to opportunities they might not otherwise have had, to learn new skills, to make a positive change in their communities and to shape the city they live in.
Glass Door helps homeless men and women in London through their large network of emergency shelters and support services. These winter shelters provide a warm welcome, food, safety and shelter for up to 170 people every night. Properly feels passionately about the issue of homelessness. That is why we are delighted that together with our clients we can assist Glass Door in their fantastic work to help some of the most marginalised people in society.
Families become homeless for reasons we can all identify with. We are concerned about people who are struggling to keep things together in our fast-paced world – and we care about those who have no support. We chose the Doorstep Homeless Family Project because they are passionate and effective yet they are a small team with limited funding. They provide homeless families, living in temporary accommodation in London, with access to services to secure the emotional and practical support they require to enjoy a better quality of life.
We need nature and nature needs us. We support The London Wildlife Trust because we share its concern for the environment. We want to ensure that we keep nature in mind as we work in the property market – and crucially, with people’s homes. We also want our employees to engage with nature and benefit from the wellbeing this brings. London Wildlife Trust cares for over 37 of London’s spaces, and their vision is: “a London alive with nature, where everyone can experience and enjoy wildlife”.
I was so pleased to be introduced to Properly. Mariel and Michael provide an excellent service that took the stress and hassle out of finding a tenant. They were a pleasure to deal with, efficient and fast. A marked difference from the hidden costs and poor communication often encountered from other high street estate agents. I would thoroughly recommend and happily use again!
Mariel and Michael made the process of agreeing a housing let incredibly seamless, stress-free and quick. Their timely communication and fantastic ‘customer service’ was second to none. Would highly recommend
The service is outstanding. Mariel could not be more helpful and professional. Every individual I engaged with, was well informed and had the full history of conversations. First class service.
Amazing people, responsive, honest, friendly and professional. Cannot fault them and the type of company, you will go back to again and again.
Michael and Mariel have been very helpful from the time I contacted them on a property I was interested to rent and through the offer process. Mariel did a wonderful video call showing of the house since I was not in London at the time. I felt completely comfortable to sign the lease from the video call. Thank you Mariel!
The level of customer service I received at Properly with Mariel and her team was frankly outstanding. It’s lovely when people genuinely care and go the extra mile which certainly they did. I couldn’t recommend them more highly, the most pleasurable property experience ever for me.
We had such an easy and stress free move. Michael helped us with all our questions and was quick to find out any answers to our questions. Would highly recommend.
I cannot recommend this estate agent enough. Michael and Mariel have been very good to us throughout the process and have made sure everything has been as smooth as possible. They have gone above and beyond to ensure everything was dealt with and in a timely manner too. A great experience throughout!