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Keeping your options open.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Home ownership has become something of a “holy grail” in the UK. “An Englishman’s home is his castle” and there’s a sense of prestige about owning your property and having the freedom to change décor and layout, but renting gives greater flexibility in many ways. It allows you to “try before you buy” if, for example, you want to discover whether an area matches up to your expectations before you commit to investing in a property. You could escape to the country only to find that the novelty of rural life wears off quite quickly and you miss the buzz of the city. If you’re renting a property, no problem, but if you’ve bought it could be a costly mistake.

Retirement is often seen as a new beginning and the concepts of choice and freedom underpin the happiness of many retirees. Downsizing yet maintaining an asset that accrues value as a legacy for children is often a priority. Renting lets you find out just how far you can downsize in comfort and try out moving to the seaside or countryside or just be “closer to family”. Once property size and ideal location have been established, it’s worth considering one of the newer developments that now attract residents as young as 55 with a range of health and leisure facilities and the benefits of added security. If there’s any concern about mobility in later years a bungalow, flat with lift, or a house with potential for a downstairs bedroom is ideal.

A key factor for commuters is journey time and renting allows you to try commuting over an extended period of 6 months before putting down firmer roots and deciding to buy. Given the run of rail strikes in the last six months, it’s a good idea to keep your options open by looking at areas with multiple transport links. If you live anywhere along the Brighton line, there’s no choice but to rely on strike-bound services. But elsewhere you could have a choice of services to London, so that if one line is on strike you could take the other. From Windsor for example there’s Great Western into Paddington, or South West Trains to Waterloo. Amersham offers both mainline and underground stations with a 33 minute journey to London Marylebone from its mainline railway station or 47 minutes on the Metropolitan line into Baker Street. There’s also easy access to the M25 and M40 and the A40 direct into central London.

Education can be all important in terms of property choice so it’s wise to think ahead and consider all the options if you have a young family. Within South Bucks, for example, there is a wide range of schooling options from state grammar to private schools allowing you to keep your options open. Whilst there are no guarantees to catchment areas in the future, certain areas represent a safe bet although they are likely to command a premium.

If you are likely to move long distance for work but still want to get on the property ladder, consider buying something that is a good rental proposition. Your local Frost office can advise you on what properties make a good letting proposition and what income you can hope to achieve over extended periods even if you move overseas for work. They can also advise which properties are most likely to increase in value in the long term.

There’s a trend towards more people working from home, and if that’s likely to be the case for you, keep your options open by buying a property that has a spare room to convert, space to extend or add a garden office should you need it.

Whether for work or family reasons, you can future proof your requirements to some extent by looking for flexibility in the way you might use a property, ideally with the option to extend to suit changing personal needs. Many properties have untapped potential, and renovations can make a home more spacious as well as adding to its market value, providing works are done to a high standard. You could add a conservatory, convert your loft or even excavate a basement.

You may even be able to keep your options open by literally giving your property a whole new lease of life. If you’re thinking of moving from a property with a shortening lease, investigate the possibility of extending it. You could stay put AND add value to your property. It should be considered sooner rather than later as, once a lease term is less than 80 years, the cost of extending the lease increases significantly. By law, a leaseholder (tenant) now has the right to extend their lease once they have owned a property for two years. The right is to add 90 years on to what is left on the existing lease at a “peppercorn rent” (this means no ground rent is payable). The landlord is entitled to a premium for the lease extension and how this is calculated is set out in the relevant Act. For more information about your rights and the options/costs involved, please call our surveying department on 01494 680909 for some expert advice.

Whatever your property dilemmas this Spring, talk to your local property expert at The Frost Partnership for some professional advice on ways to keep your property options open.