£435 million invested into the Chelsea Property market over the last 10 years · 03/04/2024
After the traditionally quiet months of January and February, the Chelsea property market has started to warm up, but talking to some Chelsea Estate Agents, they are reporting their lowest ever stocks of quality property for sale.
I believe this is the new norm in the Chelsea property market and is the consequence of over 35 years of not enough homes being built to meet the escalating growth in household numbers, resulting in a lack of quality homes for sale in Chelsea.
When one looks at the historic data, in September 2021, there were 462 properties on the market in Chelsea compared to today’s 109. Should we be worried? Well in April 2009, there were only 163 properties for sale in Chelsea but six months later in October 2009, this had jumped to 308 properties, only for it to then drop to 123 properties in November 2013. The number of properties on the market is a cyclical thing in Chelsea, it always has been and always will be. As we go into the Spring of 2023, the number of new properties coming onto the market will increase … just as the daffodils will flower.
So are landlords to blame? Well, on one side of the coin, yes they are. If they buy a property to rent out, that means someone can’t buy it to live in. However, it doesn’t matter if someone wants to live in a property if they can’t afford the deposit and upkeep .. and the youngsters of Chelsea still need a roof over their head. So on the other side of the coin, if the council aren’t allowing anymore properties to be built and people can’t afford the large deposit for the mortgage, then Chelsea landlords have stepped in and provided a solution.
Again, just concentrating on Chelsea itself, Chelsea landlords have bought exactly 1,000 properties over the last decade (taking the number of rental properties in Chelsea from 3,726 to 4,726 and in the process, investing approximately £435million buying those Chelsea properties) and now house 10,426 Chelsea tenants in 4,736 Chelsea properties. Chelsea tenants are in fact getting a good deal as well, as average rents in Chelsea are only 1.5% above where they were seven years ago, but wages have risen by over 13%. That sounds like a win-win situation for everyone to me. Stop blaming landlords and start building more properties in Chelsea .. that is the only answer.
In the meantime, the demand from Chelsea tenants for Chelsea property is only set to rise over the coming years. If you would like advice on where (or where not) to buy in Chelsea, please visit London Property Blog (www.bristolpropertyblog.co.uk) where I discuss such matters in greater depth.