Property Articles | Real Estate Articles

Simon Godson, Partner in the Flat Sales Department at W A Ellis comments:

"We have seen greatly increased activity over the last month and many enquiries from buyers who are coming back to the market.  There is a more focused approach from investors who have taken into account that the market has fallen by approximately 25%, and purchasing is now an attractive option, particularly if one adopts a mid to long term view.

"This is all very encouraging and certainly what agents in Central London have been waiting for.  The next task is to increase stock levels which are rapidly diminishing, unlike lettings which is currently over-supplied, due to the reluctance of vendors to sell at greatly reduced prices, into a weak sales market.

"Back in 2007 we had a similar scenario.  Demand was high and stocks were low but the economy was dramatically different and we had unusual circumstances with buyers tripping over themselves to purchase, and exceptional bidding wars on many available properties, which pushed prices skywards.

"We do not believe that prices will continue to fall dramatically and will start to plateau towards the end of the summer due to the increase in demand from both foreign and domestic purchasers.   We believe that it is an opportune moment for buyers, with low interest rates and low capital values combining to provide investment opportunities for the mid to long term within Central London, particularly as we believe that we are close to the bottom of the market."

Lucy Morton, managing partner of W A Ellis (who becomes President of ARLA in May, has recently agreed to sit on the Industry Standards Board and is the voice of Lettings in Central London) comments:

"A potentially damaging situation is now developing in the property industry where more and more sales agents are turning their hand to lettings as the sales market is quieter. The lettings market is still very busy so they are looking at it as a stop gap measure in order to remain busy until the market turns and they can return to their regular work in the sales market.

“This could be dangerous and Landlords need to be cautious as these agents may not have any expertise or experience in the lettings industry, which means that they will be giving misleading information. Landlords should really check that whomever they appoint is an ARLA trained and accredited agent.

“Often agents who are not ARLA members are unaware of the Health & Safety requirements of rentals properties, such as gas safety certificates, Energy Performance Certificates or of the Tenancy Deposit schemes and their legal knowledge can be very limited - eg the Housing Act. In the current market it is even more vital to use an experienced, qualified ARLA agent, as Landlords could find themselves locked into longer terms, at lower rents, than they would otherwise want, due to the inexperience of the agent.

“We have had an extremely busy start to the lettings’ year, with a huge increase of enquiries from both tenants looking to move within London for more space and also new tenants coming into central London. We have just agreed the best letting of the year so far, to an English family - a penthouse in central London at an asking price of £12,000/week, which was rented after only two days of being on the market. On the back of this letting, we have now just taken on a five bedroom house in South Audley Street, for £10,500 per week, which we are now marketing to let.

“Increasingly more landlords are coming to us for our advice and extensive expertise in all market conditions. We are registering properties which have been sticking on the market unlet with other agents who might not have experienced such difficult market conditions before, and therefore have not been able to price the property accurately or given the kind of candid advice on making the property ‘lettable’. Our knowledge makes us more than capable of providing this advice and expertise.”