The orthodox way of classifying property in the UK is to look at the
number of bedrooms rather than its size in square metres (although now we are
leaving the EU – I wonder if we can go back to feet and inches?). It seems that
homeowners and tenants are happy to pay for more space. It’s quite obvious, the
more bedrooms a house or apartment has, the bigger it is likely to be. The
reason being not only the actual additional bedroom space, but the properties
with more bedrooms tend to have larger / more reception (living) rooms.
However, if you think about it, this isn’t so astonishing given that properties
with more bedrooms would typically accommodate more people and therefore require
larger reception rooms.
In today’s Huddersfield property market, the Huddersfield homeowners
and Huddersfield landlords I talk to are always asking me which attributes and
features are likely to make their property comparatively more attractive and which
ones may detract from the price. Over time, buyers’ and tenants’ wants and
needs have changed. In Huddersfield, location is still the No. 1 factor
affecting the value of property, and a property in the best neighbourhoods, say
Edgerton, Ainley Top or Nettleton Hill can command a price nearly 50% higher
than a similar house in an ‘average’ area. However, after location, the next
characteristic that has a significant influence on the desirability, and thus
price, of property is the number of bedrooms and the type (i.e. Detached/
Semi/Terraced/Flat).In previous articles, I have analysed the Huddersfield housing stock into bedrooms and type of property, but never before now have I cross-referenced type against bedrooms. These figures for the Kirklees Metropolitan Council area make fascinating reading. It shows 79.5% of all properties in the area have 3 or more bedrooms
|
|
Detached
|
Semi-detached
|
Terraced (including end-terrace)
|
Flat
|
|
1 bedroom
|
111
|
246
|
419
|
536
|
|
2 bedrooms
|
1,129
|
5,825
|
9,944
|
1,855
|
|
3 bedrooms
|
6,144
|
21,704
|
18,326
|
485
|
|
4 bedrooms
|
10,548
|
6,879
|
5,336
|
125
|
|
5 or more bedrooms
|
4,263
|
2,294
|
1,827
|
56
|
I was genuinely surprised at
the low numbers of one and two bed properties, especially 2 bed semis detached
houses, especially as tenants like the smaller one and two bed properties in Huddersfield.
You see, it might interest the homeowners and landlords of Huddersfield, that
there has been a change in the numbers of properties on the market and the
split in bedrooms on the market over the last 12 months
·
12 months
ago, 51 one bed properties were for sale in Huddersfield, today 82, a rise of 61%
·
12 months
ago, 308 two bed properties were for sale in Huddersfield, today 288, a drop of
6%
·
12 months
ago, 273 three bed properties were for sale in Huddersfield, today 238, a drop
of 13%
·
12 months
ago, 127 four bed properties were for sale in Huddersfield, today 102, a drop
of 20%
·
12 months
ago, 63 five + bed properties were for sale in Huddersfield, today 55, a drop
of 13%
For several years Huddersfield
buy-to-let investors have been the only buyers at the lower end (starter homes)
of the market, as they have been enticed by high tenant demand and attractive
returns. Some Huddersfield landlords believe their window of opportunity has
started to close with the new tax regime for landlords, whilst it already
appears to be opening wider for first-time buyers. This is great news for first
time buyers ... but one final note for Huddersfield landlords ... all is not
lost ... you can still pick up bargains, you just need to be a lot more savvy
and do your homework ... one source of such information with articles like this
is the Huddersfield property market Blog https://huddersfieldproperty.blogspot.co.uk/
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