March's market update

Steps to selling your home this spring

It's hard to ignore the fact that the days are growing a little longer and the temperatures are becoming a little warmer recently. With spring gradually revealing itself, now is an excellent time to sell your house, as buyers are more active in spring than at any other time of the year.

Follow our tips to take advantage of the changing seasons to sell your home...

Spring cleaning is essential

If you want to sell your property swiftly in the coming months, you should follow the long-standing tradition of a good spring clean. Washing all the windows and doors, inside and out, will leave a positive impression on potential buyers. Make sure your home is clean and bright to reflect the fresher spring months.

Don't overlook your outdoor areas

As the weather warms up, people naturally cast a more scrutinising eye on the outdoor spaces of the properties they are interested in. It's easy to leave your garden untidy after a long winter but running the lawnmower over it and tidying up those exterior places will make your home much more appealing.

Spring has sprung

Plant flowers at your front door to welcome the changing seasons - a planter full of bright colours will put potential buyers in a good frame of mind. Buyers will be happier if there are pops of colour around the home, making them more inclined to make an offer. Fresh flowers in the house will also make a big difference and create the perfect tone, so fill a few vases and distribute them about the house for a continual wow factor.

Accessorise to your heart’s content

A few items can make a big difference in the overall presentation of your home and matching them to the season is a great way to wow potential buyers. To brighten up your rooms, choose soft spring colours - blankets, pillows, towels, and bed linens are all easy to switch out to create the perfect ambience, and you can take them with you when you sell your home.

Smells like a good deal

When it comes to selling your home, first impressions are crucial, since research shows that buyers only take 8 minutes to decide whether they want to buy a property. A fresh-smelling property makes the best first impression, so make sure you've aired it out and there are no unpleasant odours. Putting some bread in the oven and creating a homey, welcome atmosphere is a sure-fire technique to infuse your home with a pleasant and appealing smell.

Keen to know more about how you can leave a lasting impression on your buyers? Get in touch today.

Annual property price growth accelerates to 12.6%

Recent statistics show that annual house prices are continuing to grow at outstanding rates.

Average annual property prices rose from 11.2% in January to 12.6% in February, the strongest pace of growth since June 2021. After seven consecutive months of climbing prices, we saw a month-on-month increase of 1.7% in February, showing that the market is still very much in favour of sellers. *

Since the start of Nationwide’s monthly index in 1991, there has never been as big of an annual growth in prices, as there was in the year leading up to February 2022. The price of a typical home now averages above £260,000, demonstrating an increase of over £29,000 in just twelve months.

In comparison to February 2020, UK property prices are now 20% higher – meaning sellers can now achieve up to £44,138 more for their property than they could before the pandemic. *

With market activity remaining robust, demand for properties still high, and mortgage approvals running above pre-pandemic levels, it is safe to say this combination is creating a great market for sellers.

Have you been thinking of selling this spring? Book your valuation with us today.

*Property Reporter

EPC rules are changing, are you prepared?

Performance Certificates have been mostly insignificant in the market until recently. However, it is important to know that big changes are coming, and landlords should pay extra attention.

How will these changes impact you as a landlord?

At present, a rental property must have a minimum EPC rating of an E. However, the government is seeking to revise this to a minimum grade of C for all new tenancies beginning in 2025. It also intends to require a minimum C grade for all rental properties by 2028, even those with long-term renters.

What are the exceptions?

Although there are a couple of exemptions, these are few and far between. Listed buildings and those subject to restrictive covenants that could have their appearance altered by energy efficiency improvements, are clear exceptions.

Several temporary homes, and those that are occupied for less than four months a year, are also not included.

A £3,500 rental cost cap has been put in place for landlords who are unable to improve their property to the required EPC rating. This enables them to make as many changes as possible and then register their exemption as "all improvements completed."

The targets may be lowered in the future, but energy will still play a big role in the rental market this year and in the future.

Do you have a query? No problem! Get in touch with our expert team today.

Could your rental property deliver a higher yield in 2022?

According to recent data, the combination of high tenant demand and low numbers of available properties has caused average UK rents to rise at the fastest rate ever recorded. *

Rental demand has been reported as 32% higher, while the number of available rental properties is 51% lower than this time last year.

Flats have seen the highest increase in competition compared to last year (+132%), followed by terraced houses (+40%) and semi-detached homes (+30%).

Data collected from a popular property portal suggests that the average rental yield across the UK is now 5.5%, which is the highest since 2016. Industry experts are hopeful that rents will increase further this year, with a well-known portal director explaining, "Tenant demand continues to be high entering the new year, meaning the imbalance between supply and demand is set to continue until there is more property choice for tenants, which has led to our prediction of a further 5% increase in average asking rents in 2022."

To find out if you could increase the rental income from your property, get in touch today to book a free lettings valuation.

*Rightmove

Donations sent to Ukraine

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, refugees are becoming increasingly desperate for food, supplies and equipment.

We recently sent a large donation consisting of, baby products, baby food and milk, ladies sanitary items and non-perishable food items from Tristram’s to Ukraine.

We also offered our office as a drop off point for anyone locally to add their own donations so we could send them across together. This was done with the help of our cleaners ‘Good Karma Cleaning’ who arranged the transportation of our items to the Polish border.

Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we hope the invasion comes to a swift and peaceful end.

Customer service remains our number 1 priority

Tristram’s have always strived to deliver the best customer service possible. We feel it is important to keep each staff member's workload to a manageable level, which has sometimes proved hard since the pandemic hit and with our company’s natural growth over this past 2 years. We want to ensure all customers still receive the high level of service they have become accustomed to, and over the past year, we have bolstered our team by 10!

Of which, FOUR members of staff have been hired in 2022 so far too!

Including:

Jayne Brierly, Lettings Manager

Jillian Charles, Lettings Negotiator

Klaudia Tomiak, Lettings Negotiator

Michelle Rouse, Accounts Administrator.

In addition, we have welcomed back Lizzie Tye from Maternity, the previous Lettings Manager now the Operations Manager.

Our aim is to deliver the best service in Nottingham and by having more hands-on-deck this WILL be a reality.

We always welcome constructive feedback, and have a specific email for this to be channelled anonymously: feedback@tristrams.uk.com