Chichester Property News: chichester properties for rent

Showing posts with label chichester properties for rent. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 March 2025

What’s for rent in Chichester?

Not much!!!

Since the onset of the pandemic five years ago, the supply of rental properties in Chichester has been at record lows, whilst demand remains stubbornly strong. This has led to a hugely competitive market for wannabe tenants, whereby you can expect dozens of enquiries within 24 hours of listing a decent and well-priced property to rent. That is despite rents increasing across the board as a result of this supply and demand imbalance.

There are currently just 91 properties for rent (excluding student lets and room shares), which in a city the size of Chichester is wildly low. It is also a slight drop from the already low figure of 96 properties on the rental market a year ago.

Even more worrying is that demand has continued to outgrow supply; with only 38 properties still available to rent (42%) compared to 53 properties that have been let agreed (58%). Bear in mind that five years ago (just before Covid struck) there were 205 properties on the rental market in Chichester, of which 143 (70%) were still available.

Clearly then there’s not much choice for those seeking a property to rent, which explains why so many people are enquiring as soon as something comes to the market. Furthermore, it explains why people are willing to pay more as and when something suitable does become available. This has led to an increase in asking rents across the board, such that the current average asking rents in Chichester are:

…The average rent for a property in Chichester is currently £1,400pcm, up from £1,300pcm a year ago (an increase of 7.7%!).

The cheapest property available to rent in Chichester is a one-bedroom apartment on Chatsworth Road, which is ‘let agreed’ having been marketed for £795pcm. On the other end of the scale is a five-bedroom detached house on Old Broyle Road, which is available for £3,000pcm.

Why then has there been such a drastic decrease in the number of properties available to rent? Put simply, landlords are continuing to sell up. The stick of taxation and legislation has proven too much for some, with interest rate rises wiping out profits for those with buy-to-let mortgages.

I’ve written many times about the negative impact taxation and legislation changes are likely to have on the rental market; not only directly for landlords, but ironically for the tenants they are supposedly meant to help. This has now come to fruition as rental supply remains at such low levels that, unsurprisingly, rents are increasing as a result. That perfect storm is making it increasingly difficult for tenants to find a decent home at an affordable price.

To stay abreast of the availability and average prices of rental properties in Chichester, be sure to subscribe to my free fortnightly e-newsletter at www.bit.ly/chipropertynews.

Thursday, 15 February 2024

The basics of letting a property

There are over 150 pieces of legislation that landlords and letting agents need to be aware of when they let out a property. Below are the basic things I always check first when visiting a prospective landlord at their potential rental property:

Is it leasehold?

If so, you’ll need to check there are no covenants that stop you letting out the property to a certain type of tenant or, in extreme cases, preventing you from letting it at all! You may also find the freeholder and/or management company needs to be alerted to the fact the property is to be rented (and to whom).

Is there a mortgage?

If you have a buy-to-let mortgage, or no mortgage at all, then you’re all set. But if the property is currently your home and you have a residential mortgage you’ll need to apply to your lender for ‘consent to let’ and/or switch to a buy-to-let mortgage.

Is it insured?

Specialist landlord insurance for the property will cover the building, your contents (including fixtures & fittings) as well as providing you with legal indemnity cover.

Furnished or unfurnished?

Most long-term rental properties are let unfurnished, but if you plan to supply any furniture it needs to comply with fire safety regulations (look out for the manufacturer’s label).

Is there an EPC?

An in-date EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) with at least an E rating is required prior to letting (some exemptions apply). They are valid for 10 years and there’s a register online that you can check before you order a new one.

Got gas?

There needs to be a smoke alarm on each floor of the property and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid-fuel burning device e.g. an open fire.

Are smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place?

There must be a working smoke alarm on each floor of a rental property. Meanwhile, carbon monoxide alarms need to be installed in any room with a ‘fixed combustion appliance’ (other than a gas cooker). That most likely includes a gas boiler, gas hob, gas fires & open fires all requiring a carbon monoxide in the room.

Are the electrics up to scratch?

All new tenancies require an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) to be undertaken by a qualified contractor to ensure the electrics are safe and in a good condition. These are then valid for five years (unless the electrician says they need to be checked sooner).

These are the bare minimum legal requirements you must comply with before letting a property. There are many more points to consider though, such as the condition and desirability of the property, its likely target market and rental valuation compared to what else is available at the time. If you have a property that you’re thinking of letting and would like some advice or guidance, please get in touch.

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Thursday, 1 February 2024

What’s for rent in Chichester?

Not much!!!

Since the onset of Covid nearly four years ago, the supply of rental properties in Chichester has been at record lows, whilst demand remains stubbornly strong. This has led to a hugely competitive market for wannabe tenants, whereby you can expect dozens of enquiries within 24 hours of listing a decent and well-priced property to rent. That is despite rents increasing across the board as a result of this supply and demand imbalance.

On the face of it though, the supply of rental properties has at least ‘improved’ since a year ago (when just 82 properties were on the rental market in Chichester). But having just 98 homes on the market to rent in a city the size of Chichester is still wildly low.

More worryingly however is that demand has continued to outgrow supply, as only 38% of rental listings are still available (with 62% let agreed), whereas this time last year 49% of listings were still available (with 51% let agreed). Bear in mind that four years ago (just before Covid struck) there were 205 properties on the rental market in Chichester, of which 143 (70%) were still available.

…The average rent for a property in Chichester is currently £1,400pcm, up from £1,295pcm a year ago (an increase of 8.1%!).

The cheapest property available to rent in Chichester is a studio apartment on Oving Road, costing £650pcm. On the other end of the scale is a five-bedroom detached house in The Avenue in Summersdale, which is ‘let agreed’ having been marketed for £3,400pcm.

To stay abreast of the availability and average prices of rental properties in Chichester, be sure to subscribe to my free fortnightly e-newsletter at www.bit.ly/chipropertynews.

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Thursday, 2 March 2023

What’s for rent in Chichester?

Not much!!!

Since the onset of Covid nearly three years ago, the supply of rental properties in Chichester has been at record lows, whilst demand remains stubbornly strong. This has led to a hugely competitive market for wannabe renters, whereby you can expect dozens of enquiries within 24 hours of listing any property to rent. That is despite rents increasing across the board as a result of this supply and demand imbalance.

The supply of rental properties has, however, ‘improved’ since a year ago (when just 21 properties were available to rent in Chichester). But having just 43 homes currently available to rent in a city the size of Chichester is still wildly low. Bear in mind that three years ago (just before Covid hit hardest) there were 148 properties available to rent in Chichester.

Clearly there’s not much choice for those seeking a property to rent, which explains why so many people are enquiring as soon as something comes to the market. Furthermore, it explains why people are willing to pay more as and when something suitable does become available. This has led to an increase in asking rents across the board, such that the current average asking rents in Chichester are:

…The average rent for a property in Chichester is currently £1,295pcm, up from £1,150pcm a year ago (an increase of 12.6%!).

The cheapest property available to rent in Chichester is a studio apartment on South Bank, just alongside the canal, costing £625pcm. On the other end of the scale is a four-bedroom detached house in Rew Lane in Summersdale, which is marketed for £2,950pcm.

To stay abreast of the availability and average prices of rental properties in Chichester, be sure to subscribe to my free fortnightly e-newsletter at www.bit.ly/chipropertynews.

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Thursday, 17 March 2022

The basics of letting a property

Is it leasehold?

Is there a mortgage?

Is it insured?

Specialist landlord insurance for the property will cover the building, your contents (including fixtures & fittings) as well as providing you with legal indemnity cover.

Furnished or unfurnished?

Most rental properties are let unfurnished, but if you plan to supply any furniture it needs to comply with fire safety regulations (look out for the manufacturer’s label).

Is there an EPC?

Are smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place?

There needs to be a smoke alarm on each floor of the property and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid-fuel burning device e.g. an open fire.

Are the electrics up to scratch?

Got gas?

Any gas appliances i.e. gas boiler / hob / fire needs to be checked by a Gas Safe engineer on an annual basis to check things are safe, with the certificate being provided to the tenants when they move in.

These are the bare minimum legal requirements you must comply with before letting a property. There are many more points to consider though, such as the condition and desirability of the property, its likely target market, and rental valuation compared to what else is available at the time. If you have a property that you’re thinking of letting and would like some advice or guidance, please get in touch.

Thursday, 3 March 2022

What’s for rent in Chichester?

Not much!!!

Since the onset of Covid nearly two years ago, the supply of rental properties in Chichester has been at record lows, whilst demand remains stubbornly strong. This has led to a hugely competitive market for wannabe renters, whereby I am typically receiving double-digit numbers of enquires within 24 hours of listing any property to rent. That is despite rents increasing across the board as a result of this supply and demand imbalance.

The supply of rental properties has, however, ‘improved’ since a year ago (when just 16 properties were available to rent in Chichester). But having just 24 homes currently available to rent in a city the size of Chichester is still wildly low. Bear in mind that two years ago (just before Covid hit hardest) there were 148 properties available to rent in Chichester.

Clearly there’s not much choice for those seeking a property to rent, which explains why so many people are enquiring as soon as something comes to the market. Furthermore, it explains why people are willing to pay more as and when something suitable becomes available. This has led to an increase in asking rents across the board, such that the current average asking rents in Chichester are:

…The average rent for a property in Chichester is currently £1,150pcm, up from £995pcm a year ago (an increase of 16%!).

The cheapest property available to rent in Chichester is a one-bedroom flat on Caernarvon Road, costing £695pcm. On the other end of the scale is a three-bedroom semi-detached house on The Hornet, close to the city centre, which is marketed for £1,900pcm.

Why then has there been such a drastic decrease in the number of properties available to rent? Put simply, landlords are continuing to sell up. The stick of taxation and legislation has proven too much for some, with many landlords cashing in their chips whilst house prices are high, deciding that buy-to-let simply isn’t worth it anymore.

To stay abreast of the availability and average prices of rental properties in Chichester, be sure to subscribe to my free fortnightly e-newsletter at www.bit.ly/chipropertynews.

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Thursday, 30 September 2021

Petrol is in demand, but not as much as property!

You will be well aware of the petrol shortages that have plagued the UK this past week. In today’s world it seems petrol has become a necessity for many, with the fear of running out leading some to queue for hours to seemingly grab as much as they could. The same, however, could be said for property at the moment, with supply simply too low to fulfil demand. A few new-build sites have been in the press in fact, having had people queue for days to be the first in line when the sales office opens! That may also help understand why property prices in the UK have risen so much over the past few decades…even more so than fuel prices.

Ten years ago the average price at the pump was 129.9p per litre. Today it is reportedly 136.5p, which would mean an increase of just 5% in a decade. Compare this to property, whereby the average UK home sold for £165,649 in 2011, versus £255,535 today, and prices have increased by 54% in that same timeframe.

This year though, petrol has certainly leapt in price. We also feel its affects more as it has a bigger impact on our day-to-day lives than the (albeit bigger and more significant overall) property price increases. Having peaked in 2013 at 138.9p per litre, we had become used to (slightly) cheaper prices at the pumps, with the price of petrol averaging 123.9p per litre in March this year. That means fuel has increased in price by 10% in six short months; hence the furore over the current situation and the increase in prices we are witnessing across the supply chains.

Looking at data back to 1983, it shows we are not yet witnessing the steepest fuel price increase we have seen though. That happened in 2010, when prices rose by 24.4% (to 111.9p) in a year, having actually dropped by 13.5% the year before. We are, however, getting ever closer to setting a new record high average price at the pump across the UK.

As for property prices, their biggest increase came in 1989, when they rose a little over 30% in a year! Since last peaking in 2008, before dropping 15.5% the following year, 2020 did turn out to be the strongest year on record. It too means property prices are currently at their highest on record.

Hopefully the fuel rush will be over soon and things will go back to normal. Unfortunately, it is a little harder to crank up the supply of homes. As far as prices are concerned then, the continued demand for housing suggests property prices aren’t likely to abate any time soon. And the people queuing at the forecourts this week have demonstrated their thirst for fuel and willingness to pay more for it, so lower prices are unlikely to filter through at the pumps either.

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Thursday, 18 February 2021

Rents rise across the board in Chichester

The average asking price for a rental property in Chichester currently stands at £1,050pcm. That is a 5% increase compared to a year ago, despite the onset of Covid-19 and the subsequent impact on the economy since then. Furthermore, data from Zoopla has revealed that rental properties are letting 30% quicker than a year ago. If that seems counter-intuitive, the story behind it all is one of a simple supply and demand imbalance.

You see, one year ago there were 136 properties available to rent in Chichester. As I write, there are just 19! That is the lowest availability of rental properties I’ve seen on record and is a shocking 86% down on twelve months ago.

Despite lockdown, people are still looking to move though, with 79 properties showing on Rightmove as ‘let agreed’ (which is only 13% fewer than a year ago). So, with people wanting to move and an extremely limited number of properties available to move to, it is pretty logical asking prices will increase. So drastic is the imbalance I’m surprised prices haven’t increased by a greater amount, although I suspect that’s because most landlords and letting agents are taking a more sensible and morally acceptable long-term approach in this regard.

It is interesting to note however, that whilst every type of property in Chichester has seen an increase in rental prices, some have risen more than others. One-bedroom flats have increased the least (+1.9%) followed by four-bedroom houses (+3.5%). Bear in mind though that many of those four-bedroom houses are student lets, which have been facing a drop in demand for a couple of years now and were subsequently hit hard by the pandemic.

Instead, it is the two- and three-bedroom properties that are seeing the greatest increase in rental asking prices in Chichester; with two-bedroom flats up 6.1%, three-bedroom houses up 7.9% and two-bedroom houses seeing the greatest increase by rising a little over 10%.

I’ve always been a strong advocate that landlords should focus on buying two- and three-bedroom houses, so this is of little surprise to me. Popular during ‘normal’ times, the extra privacy and outside space they provide compared to most flats have been a godsend during our recent need to ‘stay at home’. It seems more people have come to realise this over the past year too, as the premium between renting the average two-bedroom house in Chichester, rather than a two-bedroom flat, has increased from an additional £100pcm a year ago to £150pcm now.

The continual landlord bashing in the media though, along with increased taxation and costly legislation (with harsh penalties for even an innocent oversight), has led many to conclude that being a landlord simply isn’t worth the hassle or risk. Fear over the ability of tenants to pay their rent as the full impact of the pandemic becomes clear has also spooked some to get out of property, especially those landlords who have calculated the financial bother they’d be in if they were to receive no income from their asset.

This is a key factor in what has led to such a heavy decrease in the supply of rental properties, as landlords are increasingly selling up. Until last year it was almost a no-brainer that when one set of tenants asked to leave, the landlord would instruct me to re-let the property. In the past six months though, several of my long-term managed properties have been sold instead of being re-let, whilst several other landlords have actively asked me to provide tenants with their notice so they can sell the property.

For now, most landlords seem not to be imposing rent increases on existing tenants who have been paying their rent and looking after the property. This seems a sensible approach and one I both promote and adopt myself (unless the rent is truly out of kilter with the market). I do wonder though how long it might be before some landlords’ generosity in this regard is broken by tenant groups continual (and often successful) lobbying against the private rented sector.

Meanwhile, Chichester’s sales market is booming. It’s no wonder many conveyancers, surveyors and mortgage companies are at breaking point, with a 60% increase in the number of properties showing as ‘sold subject to contract’ compared to a year ago. This is largely due to the rush to beat the impending stamp duty relief deadline, which is forecast to see property sales fall off a cliff in April.

It does make you wonder though if this incentive was necessary in the first place, when instead it is tenants facing a lack of supply and increasing rents who need the assistance most. To help tenants though it might be sensible to realise you have to help landlords first, which in turn will see an increase in the supply of property and with it, a halt to what could become a runaway train of rent increases.

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Thursday, 17 September 2020

Where have Chichester’s rental properties gone?

I’ve been writing these weekly articles and analysing Chichester’s property market for over six years now and never have I seen so few properties available to rent in Chichester. This time last year there was already a relatively low 106 properties seeking new tenants…today there are just 34.

Interestingly, the total number of properties on the market is down just 8% though (173 vs 189 last year) and that’s because the majority of the properties on the market are currently ‘let agreed’ (139 let agreed now vs 83 last year, equating to an increase of 67%).

Basically, rental demand is far outstripping supply. This is pretty evident as soon as you market a property to rent; since lockdown I have received double-digit enquiries within 48 hours of a new listing going live, with properties becoming let agreed within a few days.

Houses typically perform stronger than flats, but this has accelerated since lockdown. For many who were stuck inside a flat without any private outdoor space and a higher concentration of neighbours, the benefits in a house they could call home became clear. Unfortunately for them, whilst there are 23 flats available to rent (still very low), there are only 11 houses available in the whole of Chichester (four two-beds / six three-beds and a solitary four-bedroom house).

There are a variety of reasons as to this particularly strong demand. Some households are separating after lockdown, whilst others are expanding. Many have had a change of circumstances in work, either in location or flexibility in working from home (which may mean they can move further away from their place of work and/or now require a dedicated space to work at home). And, as mentioned above, there are those wanting to move from a flat to a house.

There is, unfortunately, one scenario that is causing quite a few ‘happy as they were’ tenants to have to find a new home too - their current landlord wants to sell. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has led to many landlords re-evaluating things and concluding that the uncertainty over the future, along with a variety of ‘sticks’ that have been thrown at landlords (summarised as increased legislation, costs and taxation), means they no longer see property as a viable investment.

Ultimately this situation in the imbalance in supply and demand can only lead to a rise in rents. I thought this might be evident already, whilst this purple patch is with us, but it seems there is still caution to the pricing of new rental listings as the average rental figure in Chichester stands at £975pcm, down from £995pcm this time last year.

IF we should get out the other side of this pandemic relatively unscathed economically (i.e. people largely remain employed) the ability for tenants to pay their rent should not become an issue (any more than the lack of general affordability in Chichester and the UK already is an issue of course!). What will become an issue though is the permanent loss of rental properties as landlords have been spooked (and taxed) into selling. For the landlords that remain, there will be just as many tenants wanting decent accommodation and, as a result, rents could well increase in the long-run.

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