Exploring the Property Blogosphere

image: flickr via DaveBleasdale

Ten years ago most national publications featured a weekly property supplement, but the number doing so has diminished in recent years. News about the rise and fall of house prices may make the headlines, but the quality property features have fallen to the sideline in all but a few mainstream newspapers.

The blogosphere has since been influential in maintaining a wide range of content on the broad matter of ‘property’. From interior design blogs to secret agent sites and mortgage commentaries, anyone with an interest in property (in the broadest sense of the word) has been able to satiate their needs online.

In the property blogging sphere, a number of heavyweights have emerged after earning their stripes building content that engages with their growing audiences. Some bloggers are professional journalists, some take excellent photos and some need to use spellcheck a little more often; but all have a distinct style and something interesting to say, as well as a clear passion for their livelihood.

Hackney and the E2 Lettings Market

Hackney Empire Music Hall, Built 1901 (image: Jim Linwood)

Over the past couple of months, I have been struck by the increased interest in the lettings market in the E2 / Hackney area of London.

We currently have properties in the area, in particular in a development called Acton’s Lock (formerly known as Union Wharf) – a development situated on Pritchard’s Road, in the heart of Hackney town. It was completed almost 5 years ago, and it’s staggering to see the change in the lettings market over the years. Upon completion in 2007 the rent for a 1 bedroom property was a lot lower than expected, however every year since we have seen a steady increase in the infrastructure around the area, which has had a positive knock on effect to the rental value.

Over the last 2 months, we have had a fair amount of properties in the development become available for renewal, with 90% of tenants wanting to renew their tenancy. With this, we have seen a rapid rise in the rent achieved for these 1 bedroom properties, from achieving a rent of around £270 per week last year to now achieving around the £300 per week – an 11% increase.  All of the properties that we have available in this development have stunning Juliet balconies, overlooking the Regents Canal.

Working From Home in London and the South East

The number of people choosing to work from home has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, with data from the Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey showing that the number of people working from home has increased by 21.4 per cent since 2001.

Nearly 13 per cent of workers work from home, and whether they are self-employed, freelance or have a flexible work pattern staying at home is an attractive prospect to many, not least for employers, who cite an increase in productivity and eduction in absenteeism. With the advent of cloud computing even those who need access to an endless list of internal files can work from home, and video conferencing makes meetings possible when attendees are in different locations.

Poll Results: Will the Base Rate Rise?

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce on Thursday 9th June whether the base rate has changed or if it will be staying at the same 0.5% for the 27th consecutive month.

Last week we asked you to vote in our poll, and let us know whether you thought the base rate would increase this week.

The results are in and it seems there’s a fairly strong consensus, with almost 80% predicting that there’ll be no change when the MPC announcement is made this Thursday – and only the remainder thinking that the time has come for the first shift in base rate for more than two years.

Do you agree?  Have your say in the comments below…

Asset Management Grand and Small

Bowood Hotel

On a recent visit to a magnificent stately home with copious grounds in Wiltshire, I was taken aback by how well the estate is run and by how up-to-date and commercial the thinking is.

It is perhaps a misconception that the ‘landed gentry’ have endlessly deep pockets with which to run their family estates – this may have been the case a hundred years or more ago, but the economic reality has to be faced in the twenty-first century.  Plenty of homes are now open to the public – and ‘home’ is not just a title, it is often the building in which the owners reside.

Due to high running costs the public are invited in to certain areas of the house, in order to admire the history of the building and to appreciate the architecture, furnishings and general ambiance of the place. This is one of a number of revenue streams that large home owners are turning to in order to assist with cash flow.

Canary Wharf Lettings Market Update

Canary Wharf via flickr.com - Robert Orr

For the past two decades the residential rental market in Canary Wharf has steadily grown. Competing with The City of London to become the new financial heart of the capital, there are around 100,000 employees (ONS Business Register and Employment Survey, December 2010) working for a number of high-profile companies, often working long hours – and they tend to want to live close to work.

In response to an influx of residential developments, the E14 postcode has been regenerated and now provides residents with the same amenities and opportunities as other popular London postcodes. In the past five years many trendy bars overlooking the river have popped up, alongside numerous café’s, restaurants, fitness clubs and boutique shops.

Results: Post-budget financial standing

In our inaugural weekly poll on Monday we asked: ‘Following the budget, where do you expect to stand financially at the end of the tax year?’

The results were perhaps unsurprising given the budget’s focus on deficit reduction and austerity measures…

No respondents expect to be better of, while 76% expect to be worse off as a result of the Chancellor’s changes.  A small number, 9.5%, of voters expect to be neither better nor worse off, staying in roughly the same financial position over the next twelve months.

15% claim that it is too soon to tell; there are clearly the optimistic ones!

Tenant Drinks

Customer service in the property industry is poor. I had dinner recently with Howard Morgan of Realservice, a firm that was set up in the late ’90’s with a focus on customer service in the property industry. Howard and I share similar views on the importance of good service.

Of course it is an overused cliché but business is about people. Establishing good relationships is key, and it is also fun that this is all part of good customer service.

It is for this reason that on Thursday night our letting agency, Young London, hosted one of our drinks evenings for our tenants.

It was in The Goldsmith Pub in Southwark, near our office and where many of the properties we manage are situated. Tenants from the area were invited. We are very keen to build good relationships with those we deal with, whether they are landlords, tenants, maintenance companies, etc. Infact we also invited one of the Concierges (recent winner of UK Concierge of the year!), as the tenants really value good concierge.

Daniel Moylan: Weaving Crossrail’s Magic into London’s Rich Tapestry

Cllr Daniel Moylan

Daniel Moylan
Deputy Chairman, Transport for London

As the Mayor pressed the button on 15 May to launch the first pile into North Quay dock at Canary Wharf, many Crossrail supporters, among them the capital’s business leaders, celebrated that this much heralded project is now finally underway.

For some, the focus of this mammoth scheme will now understandably be below ground – the engineers rising to the challenge of carving two large tunnels beneath the footprint of central London and the creation and training of the skilled workforce who will undertake this task.