News - March 2008

Brian Holt lettings enjoying record start to year

14/03/2008 10:51:09

The lettings division of Brian Holt has enjoyed its busiest time since its launch last year - with January and February seeing a record number of new properties added to its books and rentals going through the roof.

Lettings manager Mark Walmsley, whose division operates from offices in Leamington, Kenilworth and Coventry, says a number of factors are behind the success of the last two months.

“This goes against the traditional pattern in the lettings industry where January and February are usually quieter.

“The recent uncertainty over the housing market and consequent reduction in the number of homes for sale means many owners unable to find the house of their dreams have sold their existing properties and are waiting for the market to pick up, confident they will soon have a wider choices of homes from which to choose. In the meantime they’re renting and biding their time so they’re in good position to buy once the home they want comes onto the market.

“Likewise, some owners have bought new houses but are waiting a while before selling their first properties and renting them out in the meantime to cover their mortgage payments.

“As well as the current market conditions affecting the lettings market the fact that we are becoming more and more established as a lettings and property management agent means we are increasing our market share, with more landlords adding their property portfolio to our books – and more people looking to rent houses coming to us.

“Another factor is that because we handle both sales and lettings our teams can work together. Some vendors give us an option to sell or let so we can advise on offers either way, and it also means we can tie up the timings of sales and lettings more easily than agents working in just one area.

“Additionally in any market – regardless of economic conditions - there are some properties which just fly off the shelves when they’re available for rent but which take longer to sell. These are often quintessentially English country cottages in which people love to live but would rather avoid the responsibility of repairs and maintenance which are usually higher in older properties.

“One example of this is a very pretty cottage we are letting in Barford. We could have rented this out a dozen times as it’s so charming. The owner originally wanted to sell it but although plenty of people came to view it finding a buyer was a little troublesome simply because it wasn’t as practical as other properties in the same price bracket. She then took our advice and decided to rent it out instead. This covers all her costs and she’s able to ask a good rental price as there’s so much demand for homes like this. The message here is – if you have property which is proving slow to sell then renting it out could well be the answer, as this will cover your mortgage payments and thus free you up to buy another property.”