Understanding the different houses styles of UK houses

When you arrange as many Buy To Let Mortgages as the Landlord Mortgages do, you soon realise that certain styles of houses and flats make good Buy To Let investments.

Landlord Mortgages have compiled this article to help Buy To Let landlords get a good grounding as to the property styles available for purchase.

In the early days and up until the 1800’s we had what was described as vernacular. These were properties that relied heavily on local natural materials such as Cotswold Stone in the Cotswolds. Even today, the local planners try to conserve this history by restricting the use of certain raw materials in certain areas i.e. it is highly unlikely that the planners will allow a read bricked house to be constructed in the middle of the Cotswolds.

The most well know type of vernacular house is the thatched cottage and more often than not renovation restrictions exist. Such restrictions are in place to conserve this type of property as National Heritage.

Many properties from this class of property are very costly to renovate due to the restrictions imposed by the local planners. More often than not such properties are Listed Buildings and only well-experienced builders, who tend to be very expensive, should be entrusted with such renovation work. It is highly unlikely that this class of property will make a good Buy To Let investment and you may not even get one of the many Buy To Let Mortgages on such a property as the expected rental income (rental yield) on something like a thatched cottage is very low.

Georgian Property stretches from 1700’s through around 1820 and consists of two styles; namely Georgian and Queen Anne. You will find most of these types of properties are Listed Buildings, however they are slightly easier to renovate than earlier styles (see above) as the symmetry of this style of building creates well structured buildings. You can identify a Georgian property by the high ceilings and sash windows. Buy To Let landlords in Bath, London and Edinburgh own many large Georgian style Buy To Let Properties. We often see Georgian style properties split into flats and Buy To Let Mortgages arranged on each flat allowing the maximum uplift in market value. In Bath and Edinburgh Georgian properties have been known to be suitable for landlords letting to students.

The mid to the late 1800’s was the era of Victorian Property. Even to this day Victorian Property dominates inner parts of most towns and cities. The fireplace would be prominent in each property and would be made of cast iron in most cases. The chimneys would also appear to be ornate along with the ceilings and cornices.

Edwardian period ran from the late 1800’s through to the first quarter of the 1900’s. Massive mansion blocks we constructed by the well-known property developers. These mansion blocks had the first workings of lifts and in many cases had workable plumbing and central heating.

Houses built in black and white with half-timbered gables and leaded windows dominated the 1920’s through to the late 1930’s. This Property Developing period was named the Art Deco period and tended to sprawl into suburbs around the major towns and cities such as London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester. And was more evident as the demand for property gathered pace in the 1930’s.

After the Wars passed we entered the cheap period, which consisted of many ugly blocks of flats. As high demand for housing continued into the 1980’s we saw shoddy workmanship in a highly competitive market and it was only the late 80’s house market crash that highlighted shortcomings in property workmanship.

Today, the market is different and very diverse with many mock versions of older styles widespread. Affordable housing and speed of erection are most important in today’s property market.

Today’s Buy To Let News

London rentals see 18% boom

London properties have seen a boom of up to 18 per cent in rental prices as tenants compete for the best homes, estate agents have claimed.

Hamptons International said that severely low levels of rental property in the London market combined with increasing numbers of tenants have pushed up prices and many would-be tenants have been forced into a "bidding war".

Many tenants are having to compromise on the kind of property that they secure and the days of second viewings are gone as tenants have to move fast to find a place that they like, the estate agent claimed.

Rosanna Caldwell, senior manager at Hamptons International's Kensington branch, said: "We are witnessing offers considerably over the asking price, with tenants increasing original offers, in an attempt to seal the deal.

"With a massive shortage of one bedroom flats available for rent - those that do come to the market are being let within hours, securing phenomenal prices."

The firm registered 25 per cent more applicants in February than at the same time the year before, with viewings up 12 per cent.

A recent report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents confirmed that demand for rented property continued to outstrip supply in the market at a whole with tenants staying in properties for an average of 15 months.

Landlord Mortgages comments ‘We are certainly experiencing a sharp upward demand for Buy To Let Mortgages but this is in areas where rents have already increased sharply over the last two or three months. We are expecting rents to continue climbing this year with Buy To Let becoming buoyant in the autumn across the whole of London and the South East. Property in Reading and Wokingham (near to our central office) are providing very good Buy To Let property investment opportunities.’

LettingAgent.com comments ‘One-bedroom flats have been the one type of property that has delivered good returns year in, year out. Rents are indeed rising and unless more housing stock is made available soon rents will undoubtedly rise sharply.’
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