richard james

Insights from the 2021 Census The property market is one of the most important economic indicators, as it can significantly impact the prosperity of both the local and national economy.Recently, new data from the Census 2021 has become available that sheds light on seldom discussed areas of property, such as the types of properties Swindon has, together with how we live in and use our homes.This data...

Traditionally, the first four months of the year are usually an estate agents’ busiest time for house sales. However, if the last three years have taught us anything, nothing is 'normal' and 'usual' anymore.The Swindon property market is finding that with the friction of higher mortgage rates and the effects of inflation on household budgets; things are slightly different in 2023 compared to recent...

As the British and Swindon property market navigates the ongoing economic turmoil, many Swindon homeowners and landlords may feel uncertain about the future.However, up-to-date data suggests that the 2023 property crash predicted by the many newspapers and the usual clickbait doom-mongers in the lead-up to Christmas on social media, may not be as bad as initially thought, and there are reasons to be...

Swindon Homeowners - Do you know how big your Swindon home is? What is the square footage of your Swindon home? Don’t worry, most of us don't - yet it could be fundamental as Swindon home buyers search for new homes. Us Brits are obsessed with our homes, yet most Swindon homeowners need to learn the square footage (those born after the mid-1970s) or square metre(age) of their homes. As an agent, I find...

The share of Brits moving each year has been declining since the late 1980s (when at one stage, people moved every eight years), yet since the pandemic's beginning, something has appeared to upset that trend.Newspaper stories and social media posts painted a picture of homeowners moving from the city centres to its suburbs, from the suburbs to the towns and countryside around the UK. Areas like the...

Over the last five years, life has become a little trickier for Swindon landlords, with changes to their taxation status, mortgage interest relief and an additional 3% stamp duty for a buy-to-let property, and has made lots of Swindon landlords ask themselves: ‘Is buy-to-let in Swindon still worth the risk?’ Regarding taxation, in 2016, the Government added a 3% supplement in stamp duty on...

• With the Bank of England raising interest rates and inflation high, what is happening in the Swindon property market? • Are properties selling in Swindon? And if so, what is selling? • What will happen to the value of your Swindon home? • Read the article to find out what is happening to the Swindon property market. As we enter February, the Swindon (and British) property market is full of...

An additional 6,926 spare bedrooms have been locked out of the Swindon housing market since 2011 as Britain’s ageing population means the country’s stock of homes is being used more unproductively. The number of spare bedrooms in Swindon between 2011 and 2021 increased from 93,979 to 100,905. The number of Swindon households living in properties with at least two spare bedrooms (i.e. spare...

The Swindon property market has changed in the last 12 months, with more Swindon properties coming onto the market. This has given greater choice to Swindon home buyers and buy-to-let landlords. The value of Swindon properties that had their sale agreed upon in the early spring of 2022 (and completed their sale in September 2022) is 13.4% higher than those Swindon properties that had a sale agreed...

Swindon Buy-to-Let Landlords. Would it surprise you that inflation can be very useful when it comes to protecting your hard-earned savings and investment? Some of you reading this will be old enough to remember the 1970s – the bell-bottom trousers, the huge collars, frayed jeans, disco glitter balls, maxi dresses, midi skirts but above everything else - HYPER INFLATION.With inflation currently standing...