Blog: Market-news

Whether you’re going upmarket to a bigger place, relocating for work or schools, or even downsizing from a longtime family home, selling for the first time is an exciting prospect in your life’s next chapter. Even so, the idea...

Whatever kind of landlord you are or wherever you own a rental property, some universal principles apply to keep your investments profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable. Private landlords are effectively small business owners, and...

Cast your mind back to 2022, and you might remember a loud fanfare over levelling up the UK’s rental homes as part of the Government's target to reach net zero by 2050. Back then, the rhetoric was that all tenancies created from...

Even though it can add thousands to your selling price and give you more space to enjoy, decluttering can feel like a mountain to climb. As well as the dilemma of where to start, it's easy to lose momentum when you're halfway...

Style and comfort are the perfect combination for every home - not just for quality moments, but also for adding value when you want to move. Interior trends have a longer shelf life than the fickle world of fashion, and perhaps...

There's no denying that landlords faced a pretty challenging 2023. In particular, many of those who were highly leveraged decided to simply sell up, but did they act too soon? Their departure has left a large hole of opportunity...

If your home has been on the market for a while, something probably needs to change to get your move underway. The latest government figures show the market performing at about 80% of last year, with transactions in September 2023...

"Whatever you have in your rooms, think first of the walls" - wise words indeed from pattern and textile god William Morris (and nobody could call his designs neutral). However, if you read any lifestyle articles on selling your

If you’re a landlord with a fixed-rate mortgage nearing the end of its initial term, you’ll only be too aware of the coming increase in your monthly repayments. Back in October 2021 and 2018, two and five-year buy-to-let fixed...

Although long-term lettings to professional tenants are easily the most hands-off way of being a landlord, they're not your only option. So having previously covered renting to families, attracting high-income earners, and even...

Is your buy-to-let as profitable as it could be? Many aren’t. There’s often more mileage in a rental home than many landlords realise, and some of the checks you can make to determine whether your property is a peak performer...

Price is everything when selling your home. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you live in or what condition it’s in - if the price is wrong, you’ll be out of pocket or stuck where you are. Accurate valuations are...

To furnish or not to furnish? That hasn’t been the question for as long as we can remember - it’s been unfurnished all the way. Nonetheless, the subject comes up in conversation every now and then, and a recent Zoopla article...

Not every part of your home is created equal, and some have a quantifiably higher value than others. At the same time, there are those unique and saleable qualities that are less easy to put a figure on, but nonetheless play a...

There have been lots of changes to the way landlords are taxed over the last few years, creating plenty of confusion and leaving some questioning whether buy-to-let is a worthwhile investment. The answer is very much a personal...

It seemed so exciting when your home first went on the market. You were full of anticipation around people coming to view, and your agent sounded convincing when they said they had buyers waiting. But that was months ago, and your...

“Is buy-to-let still worth it?” Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t ask us that question. For a lot of people, the answer is no. Changing lettings law and tax rules have caused many landlords to drop out and sell up,...

Although rents are going through the roof, yields are getting higher, and there’s massive demand from tenants, many landlords are selling their rental homes. For some, it’s part of their long-term plan, but for others, it’s...

It sounds like a landlord’s dream come true: a shortage of rental homes, multiple tenants competing for each one, and rents going through the roof. It’s the same story for almost every property to rent in Basildon, Benfleet,...

The sun’s out, the sky’s blue, summer’s here, so it’s time to view! World-class poetry aside, with the sun shining bright and nature in bloom, the conditions are perfect for selling your home when it looks its best....

Pushing your home's value to its full potential can make your next move bigger and better. That could mean more space, a larger garden, or a swisher location than you thought was possible. But where do you start? Well, we talk to...

Spring has been the most popular season to buy and sell a home for as long as we can remember, and with good reason. Plans are often hatched around the beginning of the year, and as the weather warms up and nature bursts into...

How do you feel about the property market right now? It's peak prediction season in the press, with daily claims from experts that house prices are about to fall off a cliff, stagnate or even slowly rise. We know that most of...

What are your big plans this year? Fitness, wealth, travel, something else? Change is always in the air when January arrives. We're entering 2023 on the back of quite a ride. Lockdowns, Brexit, empty shelves, four prime ministers,...

“Being a landlord might still pay better than a pension” - that was the arresting headline in The Telegraph that caught our attention recently. Pensions have certainly been squeezed, with workplace pension pots shrinking and...

It doesn't always work out with your first choice of estate agent. Perhaps things went well at first, but viewings are now thin on the ground. Maybe you sense your agent’s initial enthusiasm has begun to cool. Or you could be...

Everyone's talking about inflation right now, and usually in negative terms. The current climate of rising prices is affecting us all, from filling up the car to doing the weekly shop. There’s also plenty of news about tenants...

Even though many lenders lowered their mortgage rates after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, we all face a bumpy road ahead. The media is battling it out to write the scariest headlines of an imminent price crash and soaring...

Are you planning to move next year? If you are, you'll probably be thinking about getting ready for viewings and how to help buyers fall in love with your home. Getting the highest possible price in the shortest period of time is...

There are many different models of buy-to-let, but a proven winning formula is buying a property in need of renovation, upgrading the specification, then releasing the increased equity to fund another buy-to-let project. Homes in...

Letting a property to multiple occupants is an attractive option for many landlords, as it can generate a much higher return and far more monthly rental profit than a single let. However, it’s not for everyone, as the rules and...

It’s been another full-on month in the world of property for us at Baillie White Lettings! It would seem that people in our area are still very keen on finding a new place to call home. Many people are of course currently still...

As of today, a new area of Essex has replaced Basildon as the Covid capital of England. Yesterday (Saturday, December 19), Basildon, Essex, was announced as the worst-affected area in the week leading to December 14. But today the...

Here at Baillie White Lettings & Management, we can guide you to the right places to identify property values and yields in Wickford, and other useful property related information so you can make sure you get all the information...

As the dark evenings draw in, so does the realisation that none of us can escape the colder months to come. Whilst the big freeze can be hard on homes, there are some steps you can take to protect and care for your property this...

Whilst many have not been surprised by Boris Johnson's announcement tonight of a second National lockdown, the news has been met with some anxiety by landlords. For those with tenants in extreme arrears (generally 9 - 12 months of...

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, better known as the furlough scheme, was introduced by the chancellor Rishi Sunak in March to help employers deal with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Official estimates suggest...

The number of new prospective tenants is at its highest level ever according to the August 2020 Private Rented Sector report just released by ARLA Propertymark. The average letting agency branch registered 101 new tenants last...

The government has set out confirmation of the new regulations and protocols that landlords will have to follow if they wish to restart or request a possession hearing and evict a tenant. “This guidance is to help private...

With so much in the media at the moment relating to the housing market and private rented sector prices, it can be hard to decipher what is really happening in the rental market in Benfleet and the rest of Essex. I have spent some...

Let's face it, there has been little for landlords to celebrate coming out of Government announcements in the past few years. With the increases in legislation, tax changes squeezing margins, and plans to scrap Section 21...

Well 2020, you've certainly kept things interesting...! As the UK begins to bounce back from the Coronavirus lockdown, analysts begin to speculate on what the future holds for the UK economy. Here at Baillie White, we are going to...