‘Let’ The Good Times Roll

For the first time since we opened our doors for business in 2014 we have found that our rental income, for the last 3 months, has overtaken our sales income. This has come as no surprise to us at NVP. We were expecting the sea change and believe the trend is here to stay for the next couple of years while our government implements Article 50 and negotiates new trade agreements with Europe and the rest of the world.

This seems to correlate with the other leading estate agencies, most of which are anticipating more properties being available to rent than for sale in 2017.  Recent data relating to the PCL super-prime lettings market regarding transactions above £5,000 per week show an increase of 16% compared to last year, as top-end sales slow to a crawl.

For many wealthy individuals looking to buy a seven or eight figure home in the UK the sums don’t add up.  As Knight Frank’s head of super-prime lettings Tom Smith points out, the stamp duty on the purchase of a £15m property is £1.7m, which is the equivalent to three years rent.  Yields can reach between 3.5% and 4% for best-in-class super-prime properties due to their relative scarcity, which compares to less than 3% across prime central as a whole.

This is not to say the news relating to prime sales is all bad. Deals in excess of £30m rose by 28% this year compared to last, so each to their own!