ASIAN DELIGHTS

Home values

As we step out of the pandemic, Rupert Oliver of Rupert Oliver Property Agents looks at the current housing market, explains the potential threats ahead, and shares his thoughts on what makes a house a home...

In May 2020 the Bank of England warned of a potential 16% fall in property prices as a result of the pandemic. The world around us appeared to be shifting on its axis at the time – concerned as we were with escalating infection rates, washing hands, isolating, searching for or making PRE, and anxious about job security or loss of work – so apart from those of us in the business of buying and selling, this news understandably washed over many of the population. It was a good job that our nation of existing and aspiring homeowners didn’t fret overly, because the market did no such thing. We now know, nearly two years later, that house prices have not deflated, but have continued to grow, with the average house price in the UK hitting a new record high of £278,123 in February 2022 (Halifax Price Index), an increase of more than 10% in 12 months.

There are lots of economic and practical reasons for this increase: insufficient housing stock, built-up demand, low mortgage rates and the stamp duty holiday (which ended in October 2021). But the most resonant factor, created by lockdown itself, was a complete shift in priorities. Our homes became all about family and belonging – not a novel definition of home, perhaps, but it was transformative because instead of making our homes a useful base to support our multiple other commitments, they became a permanent backdrop – however perfect or imperfect they were, we couldn’t escape them and they became a part of us.

Full-time homes

Many found themselves closeted within close family bubbles, whole days and weeks were spent together, adults working remotely or taking up new pastimes and projects, children home-educated, pets delighted to be no longer home alone. We started to think of home as somewhere not just to crash at night and relax in at the weekends, but somewhere to work in, to live in 24/7, to prepare and eat meals in, to play in, to communicate in, to relax in, to luxuriate in, namely a base to be proud of.

Our spaces were, however, stretched to the limit. For some in houses and flats with small square footage and minimal or no outdoor space this meant a longing to relocate to gain more space, claim more land and a slower pace of living; for others with more existing space it meant re-evaluating and reinventing room configurations to suit changing needs, using the garden as an extension of the living environment by adding social spaces, pergolas, hot tubs, garden houses and cabins.

Looking ahead

There are new threats ahead, however, that could impact on property values: higher interest rates on mortgages and increasing energy bills and living costs are rearing their ugly heads right now, but we believe that this is unlikely to puncture the upward curve because demand from first-time buyers is unceasing and stock remains at an historic low. It’s also the case that the population is still adjusting to the pandemic shake-up and that continues to involve decisions about upgrading or changing our homes to fit with our new and still shifting life priorities.

Home: a simple definition

Yet, hold on, because while it’s easy to become caught up in a whirlwind of must-have improvements to our living spaces, it’s clear that folding French doors, saunas, garden offices and cinema rooms, while uplifting, are never what it’s all about. These are good benefits, polishing manoeuvres, but ‘home’ is not a particular place with specific features and comforts, it’s somewhere where people who love each other share their lives, somewhere where you feel secure, somewhere where you can be yourself.

In the words of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, as he explains to his friend Smike who has never had a ‘home’: “When I speak of home, I speak of the place where in default of a better those I love are gathered together; and if that place were a gypsy's tent, or a barn, I should call it by the same good name notwithstanding.” If these requirements are met then I’m sure that all property agents will be in agreement that the value of any such home is priceless. And if it’s got a garden patio and a hot tub, then even better. n • rupertoliver.co.uk; 14 Waterloo Street, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4BT

CONTEMPORARY OFFICE SPACE TO LET

• Stunning bright & contemporary offices • Only one suite remaining – approx. 404 sq ft • Prime location • New lease available

NEWLY REFURBISHED OFFICES

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PERIOD OFFICE TO LET

• Attractive period office building • Second floor office suite available • Approx. 240 sq ft • 1 car parking space • New flexible tenancy

HIGH STREET RETAIL

• Fantastic large retail / showroom unit to let • Established high street pitch • Approx. 4,105 sq ft • Customer parking to front • New lease available

SELF CONTAINED OFFICE

• Open plan office, over two floors • 3,110 sq ft with an excellent amount of car parking • £17.50 per sq ft OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE

• A self contained, open plan office providing open plan accommodation • 28 on site car parking spaces • Available for sale

AFFORDABLE OFFICES WITH EXCELLENT PARKING

• Two suites remaining • Approx. 226 sq ft and 408 sq ft • Air conditioning, on-site gym and generous car parking

CENTRAL HQ BUILDING

• Impressive, landmark office building • Excellent location in the heart of Bristol’s commercial centre • Approx. 246 sq m • New lease available

NEW CITY CENTRE OFFICES

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WATERFRONT OFFICE SUITE WITH VIEWS

• Fantastic first floor office accommodation with stunning views • Recently refurbished • Approx. 2,375 sq ft • 6 car spaces total

• Sales / Lettings • Rent reviews • Acquisitions • Property Management • Valuations • Investment Sales / Purchase • Landlord & tenant • Development & Planning • Auction Sales • Dilapidations Advice

Howard of Howard Independent Estate Agents advises prospective sellers and buyers not to wait until the property market gets back to ‘normal’.

Who remembers the boom-and-bust property markets of the early 1970s or the late 1980s? Who remembers the MIRAS debacle in 1988 and 15% mortgage interest rates? More people will remember recent mini booms and busts, general elections, Black Wednesday, the Scottish referendum, the banking crisis, Brexit. And, just as we appear to be moving away from the worst of the COVID pandemic with restrictions being lifted, we are plunged straight into another realm of uncertainty with the conflict in Ukraine.

So, if anyone is waiting for the property market to get back to normal, they will wait a long time as there is no normal property market. In property we have to play the cards we are dealt. Sometimes the market will benefit the buyer, and sometimes the seller. In all these years the market has never suited both buyers and sellers at the same time. But then what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts.

It is essential to understand that the market is continually in flux. We now have the challenge of low stocks of property for sale, increasing interest rates and property values in some areas rising steeply. Will this continue? No. Why? Because nothing continues unchanged in property for long. Things are constantly moving.

So, my advice is to play the property, not the market. Find a deal that works for you. Please do not wait for the market to normalise; it will not. Do not try and wait until we have reached the top of the market to sell, because when you think that the market has reached the top, it will already be too late. Winning in property is finding the right property deal for you when you need it. Put another way, would you rather have a perfect property or a perfect market? I know which I would choose.

FORSALE

SOLD

SNEYD PARK GUIDE PRICE £1,500,000

SOLD

REDLAND GUIDE PRICE £1,300,000

Leigh Woods, Bristol | Guide Price £1,650,000

An outstanding four-bedroom semi-detached family house of circa 3800 sq. ft situated on a private road in a sought-after location. with easy access to Clifton village, Leigh Woods nature reserve and the Ashton Court estate.

Semi-detached family house in a sought-after location | Four generous double bedrooms and three bath / shower rooms | Stunning open plan family kitchen, dining room and siting room | Separate family room / play room | Integrated double garage and gated off-street parking | Separate home office / garden studio | In all circa 3800 sq. ft | Superb landscaped south-facing rear garden | Fully enclosed residents only communal gardens covering circa an acre | Close proximity to Clifton village and some 500 acres of National Trust woodland | EPC: B

In all circa 3800 sq. ft (357 sq. m)