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Reside Review: January 2021

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Rental Market Continues to Show Resilience

Despite being locked down throughout January, the rental market once again proved itself to be resilient in the face of national restrictions. Our industry was fortunate to be permitted to continue operating during lockdown, whilst observing strict safety precautions. Previous lockdowns have taught us not to expect a decrease in demand, and January was no exception; over the course of the month, we let more properties than in January 2020, at a higher average rent.

Demand has in fact been exceeding supply; on the last day of the month, we had only five available properties remaining on the market. In the current market, a sensibly-priced property with professional photographs and a quality virtual tour should attract good levels of interest straight away.

Helping Homeschoolers

We have been scratching our heads of late, wondering what we can do to help our local community get through this current lockdown.

One initiative we landed on was to offer support to homeschooling parents who do not have access to a printer, and are unable to print schoolwork for their children.

We have virtually become a paperless office over the last few years, so this seemed like a very good reason to press our hulking office printer into action. Using the systems we have put in place for key collections, we can also offer contactless collection from our office door.

So please – if we can help with this, do get in touch. We would be very happy to print your schoolwork for you.

Awards Season

In January, we were named as finalists in the 2020 Bath Property Awards, which are being held in March of this year. The awards are run by Mediaclash, the team behind Bath Life, and are a celebration of the local property sector. We’re honoured to be involved, alongside a host of excellent local businesses from across the sector, and look forward to the very creative virtual event that Mediaclash have organised.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

How Many Legal Obligations Do Landlords Have?

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Do you know how many different laws a landlord must comply with?

A recent study by the Residential Landlords Association has revealed the number of different laws that create an obligation on landlords in the private rental sector.

Back in 2010, this figure stood at 118, but has since shot up by a staggering 32% to 156.

With many regulations carrying financial or even criminal penalties if a landlord is found to be in breach of them, this is a stark reminder of how difficult it can be for private landlords to keep up with a sector that is becoming increasingly regulated.

With this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that Lord Best’s Regulation of Property Agents working group recommended to the government the wholesale regulation of all lettings agents. These measures, which are expected to be implemented in the next couple of years, would require all staff – from the director to the apprentice – to obtain industry qualifications, and for the company to belong to a regulatory body.

At a time when anybody, regardless of their experience or knowledge, can decide to open a lettings agency, thorough regulation seems sensible.

With 156 separate laws to comply with, tenancy management requires in-depth and up to date industry expertise.

Reside already chooses to be regulated through our membership of ARLA Propertymark, the industry’s main regulatory body, and a quarter of our staff are ARLA-qualified. Our clients can be confident in the knowledge that their tenancies are fully compliant, and in safe hands.

Reside is OnTheMarket (.com)

Posted on by prateek

OnTheMarket

The launch of OnTheMarket.com on January 26th heralded an important day for the property industry; it saw the arrival of the first genuine rival to the two established property portals, Rightmove and Zoopla.

OnTheMarket.com provides the consumer with a cleaner and fresher browsing experience, free from the advertisements, promoted properties and unnecessary information which burden other websites. It is designed to automatically adjust to all manner of screens, so whether you’re browsing on a smartphone, tablet or a PC, you will always be given the most optimised version of OnTheMarket.com. iPhone and iPad users can now also download the OnTheMarket app, which has a similarly user friendly interface.

Here at Reside, we are delighted and excited to announce that all of our properties are now displayed on OnTheMarket.com, as well as across Rightmove and our own website. We have already started to receive leads through OnTheMarket.com and feel that it is on the way to quickly establishing itself as an essential tool for property hunters.

Despite only being a few weeks old, you may already be familiar with OnTheMarket.com; a major advertising campaign has started across a variety of national television channels, as well as on the pages of the UK’s major daily newspapers.

Click here to view all of our properties on OnTheMarket.com, and to have a look around their new website. We think you’ll be seeing a lot more of it for years to come.

Jane Austen’s Bath Home Restored With Sense & Sensibility

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She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!

Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

In 1801, George Austen retired as rector of Steventon in Hampshire and relocated to Bath. The couple had married there nearly forty years previously and had family in the area. In tow were their two unmarried daughters, Cassandra Elizabeth and Jane; being an affluent and fashionable city, the Austens may have also been hoping to find a couple of single men in possession of good fortunes for their daughters.

m_4 Sydney Place-10

The search for a suitable property was long and arduous – Westgate Buildings was ‘in the lower part of the town’, Laura Place was ‘above our price’ and of Axford’s Buildings Jane wrote, ‘we all unite in particular dislike of that part of the town’. Eventually the family found a townhouse on Sydney Place which suited their requirements. For a family used to the natural landscapes of rural Hampshire, it offered views of the surrounding countryside and was positioned opposite Sydney Gardens, with its labyrinth of which Jane was particularly fond.

Some two hundred or so years later, Sydney Place still retains the period charm and splendour that would have been present in the Austen family home, as well as many original features such as fireplaces and cornices. In the ground floor room which would once have served as George Austen’s study, recent building work uncovered a cast iron safe set into the wall which would have certainly housed family documents and perhaps even the odd early Austen manuscript.

m_4 Sydney Place-34

Every floor of the house from the ground floor up has now been tastefully refurbished to include modern comforts whilst acknowledging its Georgian heritage. The ground floor, once a stately dining room and study, now forms an elegant one bedroom apartment with access to a private garden. The first floor, originally a magnificent drawing room spanning the entire width of the building, now also houses a handsome one bedroom apartment with tall sash windows which overlook the Holburne Museum and still provide glimpses of the open countryside which once would have been so apparent. The second floor would have consisted of the Austens’ bedrooms, whilst the top floor housed the servants’ sleeping quarters; both levels now comprise generously sized apartments.

All of the apartments have been beautifully furnished by Bath Boutique Stays and include artwork and literature about Jane Austen herself. If you would like to experience the Austen’s house for yourself, you can arrange a stay with Bath Boutique Stays. More information about this can be found by clicking the Bath Boutique Stays logo below.

Bath Boutique StaysFor further information about Jane Austen and her time in Bath, we heartily recommend the Austenonly blog which contains a stunning wealth of information. If you have stayed at Jane Austen’s Bath home, or are interested in her life in the city, please do get in touch with us either on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

1 In 4 Landlords Earn A Living From Rental Property

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It seems that there has never been a better time to be a private landlord: tenant demand is up and predicted to rise even further; rents are increasing and yields are at their highest since the Landlords Panel research study began in 2006.

It is unsurprising therefore that more than one in four landlords are now making a living from letting their properties, according to recent research by BDRC Continental.

The research also found that a further 52% use rental properties to supplement their income, with 74% of those planning to use rental income to help fund their retirement.

Landlords stated that the opportunity to achieve a better return on property than investing in the stock market was a major factor in entering the buy-to-let market, along with the chance to make rental income their main source of income in the future.

It seems that optimism is in the air with 68% of landlords rating their capital gains and rental prospects as good or very good, compared with 60% in the third quarter of last year. This was found to be at the highest level since 2007.

John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “Tenant demand for rental property remains strong, and with the mainstay of investment coming from private landlords, it is important for lenders to develop products that can underpin sustainable growth.”

Many of the landlords surveyed said they were looking to expand their portfolios, which is good news for buy-to-let mortgage providers and brokers. However it raises another issue when you consider that 63% agree ‘strongly’ that the buy-to-let market would benefit from greater competition. The industry cannot afford to have its key customers believing there’s too little competition in the market.

The research sounded a warning note for brokers and intermediaries: 21% of all landlords agree ‘strongly’ that they will approach a lender directly the next time they need funding.  And meanwhile some lenders are moving in the direction of providing a more holistic service to landlords – e.g. educating them on legal obligations, marketing and how to become more profitable.

With tenant demand almost certainly set to increase into 2014, it seems inevitable that even more landlords will be able to make a living from their rental properties in the future. If you are a landlord or are thinking about investing in rental property in Bath, we would be more than happy to discuss any questions you have about this topic either in person or via Facebook or Twitter.

First time landlords invest as tenant demand increases

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Bath shutterstock_101583367

A recent study by major buy-to-let lender, Paragon Mortgages, found an increase in borrowing by first-time landlords as compared to the same time period last year.

Similarly, the percentage of business coming from landlords looking to grow their rental portfolios also increased.

John Heron, director of Paragon, said: “It would seem that an investment in property is increasingly attractive against a background of low returns on cash and volatility in global markets.”

“With perceptions shifting in terms of the improved availability of buy-to-let finance too, the lending industry is in a good place to support the ambitions of both new and experienced landlords.”

Also of interest to new landlords are the increases in average monthly rental costs in England and Wales – up by 3.5% in the 12 months to May 2013, according to LSL Property Services’ buy-to-let index.

David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, said: “With wage growth so weak compared to inflation and house price growth, it looks like deposits will become less affordable – which will keep demand for rented accommodation high.”

He added that “private renting will become a more and more vital aspect of the economy.”

In line with these findings, we at Reside are seeing local demand for properties increasing significantly. July 2013 was our busiest month ever in terms of properties let, which were up 44% compared to July 2012 and 116% compared to July 2011. New properties added to our website also rose by 33% in July 2013 compared with last year.

Given also that rent arrears and voids are in decline, according to the National Landlords Association, this suggests that now is an excellent time for new landlords to consider investing in rental properties.

You spin me right round…

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We’re always looking for new ways to show our landlords’ properties, and better ways to help our tenants decide which properties suit them. So when we came across BubblePix, producers of a brand new technology that creates 360° photographic images, we saw an exciting opportunity.

The BubblePod creates 360° images that will give our prospective tenants an honest view of property interiors – before they decide to visit.

We’re proud to announce we’ve made a small investment in BubblePix and that inventor Tom Lawton has agreed that Reside will be pioneering this exciting technology.

There are two elements to the technology: the BubblePod and the BubblePix App.

The BubblePod is a clockwork turntable that grips your smartphone and smoothly, silently rotates it by 360º.

Meanwhile the BubblePix App on your phone captures the 360º image. Users can shoot and share images in less than a minute.

Reside has agreed to act as a test bed for the early production versions. This means we’ll be one of the first letting agencies to use these images to present our properties.

Once they go into production, this will create a fantastic tool for letting agents everywhere.

To find out more about the BubblePod, click here.

Private rents set to outstrip house prices over next 8 years

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Private rents in the South West are set to increase significantly faster than house prices over the next eight years, with average rents set to swell by 48%. According to the National Housing Federation’s ‘Home Truths 2012’ report, Bath and North East Somerset could see a £409 rise in average monthly rents between 2013 and 2020, by far the most significant increase in the South West region. Whilst the average rent for the region as a whole is forecast to stand at £981 per month in 2020, Bath and North East Somerset would see average rents grow to £1,253 per month.

These projected rent rises follow on the heels of 37% increases in national rents over the past five years and are caused by years of not building enough affordable homes. In 2011, 390,000 new families were formed, but only 111,250 new homes were built; as this trend seems set to continue, rents look set to be forced upwards at a higher rate than house prices as more and more families turn to private rented accommodation.

Jenny Allen, South West lead manager for the National Housing Federation, commented: “The housing market is at the point of no return; with house prices and rents set to rise and thousands of families in the South West already really struggling to afford their home… Thousands of South West families are priced out of the market and are struggling to keep on top of their rents. As Home Truths shows, even working families are increasingly reliant on housing benefit to help pay their private rent.”

However, whilst the Home Truths report is forecasting dramatic rent increases, the government is painting a very different picture of the housing market by claiming that private rents are in fact going down. New housing minister Mark Prisk told the Commons that rents have fallen in real terms, because they have risen less than the rate of inflation: “The most recent official statistics published by the Valuation Office Agency in August 2012 show that median private sector rents across England rose by 0.9% in the year to June 2012, compared to a rise in RPI inflation of 2.8% over the same period. Rents have thus fallen in real terms, although there are local variations.”

Regardless of the discrepancies between the Home Truth’s predictions and Mr. Prisk’s comments, there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on: rents will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

Dinder House, Somerset

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Reside is delighted to present this historically renowned property for rental. Dinder House is a truly remarkable nine bedroom Georgian country house set in 23 acres of stunning landscaped and walled gardens. This wonderfully restored Grade II Listed property is arranged over four floors and tastefully combines a wealth of exceptional period features with contemporary style and comforts. Located in the peaceful and picturesque village of Dinder, just 2 miles east of Wells and 2 and a half miles west of Shepton Mallet, the property also enjoys convenient access to Bath, the M5 motorway and several highly regarded independent schools.

A lengthy private driveway winds through stunningly landscaped gardens with water features and a small, natural waterfall. The River Sheppy runs through the grounds and is traversed by an impressive bridge which predates the house. A picturesque walled garden lies in front of the house and has a greenhouse and a carefully cultivated kitchen garden. A striking church, originally Norman but rebuilt in the 14th Century, lies adjacent to the front lawn.

The house is entered on the ground floor into an elegant, semi-circular entrance hallway. This room, as with many others, subtly promotes the property’s period features; in this instance, it is the original pulley system which operated the dumb waiter from the lower ground floor that is deftly integrated into the natural fabric of the room. A bright and spacious open plan kitchen / dining room, formerly the ballroom, lies adjacent to the entrance hallway and has high ceilings, intricate cornicing and tall sash windows with a dual aspect of the extensive gardens. The kitchen has a substantial marble kitchen island, stainless steel integral appliances and a large pantry. Adjacent to the kitchen is a handsome living room with beautiful hand-painted wallpaper and a deep bay lined with tall sash windows which overlook the landscaped gardens and allow the room to be flooded with natural light. The ground floor also has a smart and stylish study, a cosy snug, a bright and spacious family room and two cloakrooms, one of which has twin basins and hand-blocked wallpaper.

The lower ground floor still has many of the house’s original features and provides a wonderful insight into ‘downstairs’ life in a Georgian household. The original stone flooring remains, as do Georgian ovens, pantries, sinks and water-pumps. The lower ground floor can be used as a separate self-contained apartment, and has a sizeable living room with an Aga, plus several additional multi-purpose rooms.

An impressive cantilever staircase leads from the ground floor to the first floor, where the elegant master suite comprises a large double bedroom, a luxuriously furnished bathroom with a clawfoot bath, twin basins and separate walk-in shower, and a sizeable dressing room. The bedroom has handsome wooden flooring, ornate hand-painted wallpaper and tall sash windows set into a deep bay which overlooks the rear garden. There are four further good sized double bedrooms on the first floor, all of which have elegant wooden flooring, tall sash windows and high ceilings. This floor is completed by a stunning shower room with a marble-lined walk-in shower and a family bathroom with a freestanding roll-top bath and feature fireplace.

The second floor can be used as a separate self-contained apartment and has a bright open plan living space at its heart. This room has attractive exposed beams, a feature fireplace and enjoys access to a small balcony from which views of the grounds can be enjoyed. A fitted kitchenette with a belfast sink and a utility room lie just off of the central living space. A further four sizeable double bedrooms can be found on the second floor, all of which have been finished to the highest standard.

To view our full album of photos for Dinder House, please click here.