Property News of the Week
By: Rachael Phillips
Tags: Property Investment, Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Investments

Welcome to this week’s property news roundup. The top stories from across the web to keep you up to date and informed.

Like what we publish or have a story for us? Feel free to get involved in the comment section below.

British men being squeezed out of their homes

This is an interesting piece of research by Anglian Home Improvements. They claim that British men are being squeezed out of their homes, with females taking up a staggering 65% of space with their clothes, accessories, ornaments, books and gadgets.

The study of 2,000 married or cohabiting Brits revealed that the average British man is allowed a mere three drawers at his disposal for his belongings — with as many as 14% only offered a SINGLE drawer for his things.

When it comes to clothing, the average male uses only 37% of the wardrobe space in his house, with the vast majority dominated by his partner’s clothes, shoes and handbags.

More than a quarter (27%) of British males say their other half gets furious if they leave their belongings in sight around the house, with one in ten men have had their things thrown away as their partner thinks it takes up too much space.

In fact, 18% of men have resorted to keeping their things in the shed, while one in ten has only one shelf to call their own in the house.

The study found that a massive 88% of women wish their partner was less messy and more organised, a sentiment which has driven 14% to insist that their partner keeps all of his belongings in the garage or shed.

I’m not too sure about that.

Is it better to rent or buy in the UK?

Leading lettings platform, Bunk, has looked at the comparative cost when it comes to remaining in the rental market or taking that step on the ladder, and how this differs across the UK.

Bunk looked at the cost of a rental deposit and the cost of renting for a decade. Bunk then compared this cost to the financial barrier of a mortgage deposit, and the cost of monthly mortgage payments over a 10-year fixed term at a rate of 2.58%.

Across the UK the average monthly rent is £676. With the newly introduced five-week cap, that means a rental deposit costs an average of £845 and renting at this average monthly rate over a 10-year period would cost a total £81,120 — a total cost of £81,965 when including the deposit.

The current average UK house price is £226,798 and so a 10% deposit would set you back £22,680. This leaves a loan amount of £204,118 and at a 10-year fixed rate of 2.58% would mean a total repayment of £231,798, a total of £254,478 including the deposit.

This means, that renting is £172,513 cheaper than owning a home over a 10-year period when it comes to the upfront and monthly costs, with the one big difference being the bricks and mortar investment secured at the end.

This saving is most notable in Cambridge with a difference of £341,090 over 10-years between renting and buying, with the saving in London also topping £316,247.

In Bournemouth, renting over 10-years is £183,376 cheaper than buying, with Bristol (£177,613), Edinburgh (£166,547), Cardiff (£143,984), Southampton (£138,617), Portsmouth (£137,240) and Plymouth (£128,480) all home to some of the biggest savings.

The lowest saving is in Glasgow where renting for 10-years is just £43,145 cheaper than buying in the city.

Co-founder of Bunk, Tom Woolard, commented:

“Of course the big difference between renting and buying is that one leaves you with a sizeable financial asset as a reward for your years of hard work making mortgage payments.

However, more and more of us are opting to rent long-term and what we wanted to highlight is that while the rental market is generally viewed in a negative light due to high rental costs, it is actually a considerably cheaper option when compared to homeownership, even with almost record low-interest rates.

Not only this but those that feel resigned to renting due to the high financial barrier of buying actually have a much better opportunity to save compared to those paying a mortgage. Whether they choose to use this for a deposit further down the road or simply to enjoy a better quality of life is up to them.”

London’s most expensive roads revealed

Research by London’s prime and super-prime property portal, Vyomm, has looked at which are the most expensive roads for property across prime central London.

Vyomm looked at Land Registry sale records over the last year to find London’s most prestigious roads based on house sold prices. Excluding anything with less than five transactions, Vyomm looked at the average sold prices across these roads to highlight which are the pinnacle of London homeownership when it comes to price tag.

Top of the pile and arguably one of prime central London’s most iconic streets is Knightsbridge. Located in the City of Westminster and right by Knightsbridge tube station, running parallel to Hyde Park, the road saw 15 transactions over the last year with an average sold price of just under £16m.

Property of the Week

Something a bit different this week and very special. This former gun tower with 360-degree sea views is going up for auction next month. With the guide price at just £70,000.

This is a very rare opportunity to purchase a part of history, this offshore Trefoil-plan Gun Tower was built in 1851. The North East Dockyard Tower was originally built to accommodate officers and men with storage for powder and provisions. The roof had guns mounted on traversing platforms and 12-pound brass howitzers in order to defend the Royal Dockyard of Pembroke Dock. The building is three stories in height and as you would expect solid in construction, however, it requires maintenance. Being offshore, the tower offers sweeping views of the Cleddau River, Pembroke Dock, Neyland and Llanstadwell.

Take a look at the ad on Zoopla