I do like to have a coffee at The Sandwich
Bar on St Margaret’s Street in Canterbury. Whilst in there, a suited gentleman
approached me and asked if I was the person who wrote the newsletters about the
Canterbury property market. We ended up having an interesting chat about the local
property market, as he was concerned his daughter would never be able to buy
her own property, a place in Canterbury she herself can call home.
My latest analysis, using the Land Registry
and Office of National Statistics, shows that overall, month on month, Canterbury
property values increased by 0.8%. The year on year figures showed the value of
residential property in Canterbury has increased by 9.0% in the year to the end
February 2016, taking the average value of a property in the council area to £227,500.
It gets even more interesting when we look
at the last few months’ figures and see the patterns that seem to be emerging.
February 2016 - a rise of 0.8%
January 2016 - a rise of 0.6%
December 2015 - a rise of 0.7%
November 2015 - a rise of 0.6%
We have talked in many recent articles
about the lack of properties being built in Canterbury over the last 30 years.
This lack of new building has been the biggest factor that has contributed to Canterbury
property values still being 246.59% higher than in 1995. At the risk of
repeating myself, until the Government addresses this issue, and allows more
properties to be built, things will continue to get worse as the UK population
grows at just under 500,000 people a year (which is a combination of around 226,000
people because of higher birth rates/people living longer and 259,000 net migration)
whilst the country is only building 152,400 properties a year – no wonder
demand is outstripping supply.
Another reason intensifying the current
level of property values in Canterbury, is the fact that people aren’t moving
home as much as they used to, meaning fewer properties are coming onto the
market for sale, so in consequence, there is a lack of choice of property to
buy, meaning people thinking of moving are discouraged from putting their
property on the market ... thus perpetuating the problem, as the scarcity of
possible properties to buy in order to move also deters people from offering
their home for sale. This unevenness between demand from would-be purchasers
and the number of properties coming on to the market for sale is causing
pressures in Canterbury (and the rest of the UK).
So what of the future of the Canterbury
property market and this man’s daughter? I firmly believe the property market
in Canterbury and the country as a whole is changing its attitude about homeownership.
Back in the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, getting on the property ladder was
everything. Since the late 1990’s, we as a country (in particular, the young)
have slowly started to change our attitude to homeownership. We are moving to a
more European model, where people choose to rent in their 20’s and 30’s
(meaning they can move freely and not be tied to a property), then inherit
money in their 50’s when their property owning parents pass away, allowing them
to buy property themselves ... just like they do in Germany and other
sophisticated and mature European counties, meaning his daughter will end up
owning property, just later in life than we did. So, whatever the vote on the
23rd of June, if you think about it, we might be more European than we think!
If you want to read more articles on the
Canterbury property market, whether you are Canterbury landlord, Canterbury
homeowner, first time landlord or a first time buyer – then visit the
Canterbury Property Market Blog… www.canterburypropertyblog.com
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