The new year is in full flow already and it’s started with planning my goals and plans for 2019. Anyone who reads my blog with any regularity will know that I like to focus on the positives. I’m a fairly optimistic person and I believe that good things happen to good people. So this year my aspirations are to sell two Home-Share franchises within London, Crawley and Essex.

As always my focus for the blog will be to impart news and knowledge about the Medway towns. And there is a LOT to cover this year as some of the developments I’ve highlighted over the last couple of months, come to fruition. But equally, I’d like to balance this with national property initiatives and news that will impact our little area of the South East; subjects and issues arising in our market such as the lettings fee ban, the leasehold scandal and of course, the outcome of Brexit. If there’s something you’d specifically like to see more of, drop me a line. Your feedback is always welcome.

So for many the new year signals a new start, the perfect example being first time buyers looking to start their climb onto the ladder of investment. And Medway is primed and ready for them.

But for those that weren’t raised in Medway, what’s the appeal? Well first and foremost, affordability. Take a look at this price map published by UK House Price Index England (October 2018) using ONS data:

Our bright green spot on the map shines loud and proud in the middle of much higher priced areas. The Evening Standard recently compared the average house price for a three bed terrace in Rochester at £285,410 to an equivalent in Reading at £414,624. And that’s quite a gear change in terms of first investment.

So what will they get for their money in Medway? Well the answer is regeneration and that’s equates to value added. I’d struggle to see how investment in a property in pretty much an area of Medway would be a bad decision given the levels of regeneration that are underway. And it’s making headlines as national press features point out the merits of Medway to first time buyers. Even in what is reported to be “adverse property buying conditions”, there was a 1.2% increase in first time buyers in the South East in the last quarter of 2018.

Add to the appealing price point the balance of open space, accessibility to London and proximity to the coast, Medway really is a prime location for home hunters. Commuters undoubtedly make up a large percentage of buyers and understandably so. Road and rail upgrades have already improved the London commute and there are more improvements planned. But amazingly, our property prices remain fairly low – comparatively speaking. And there are variety of new homes are ready and waiting to be snapped up. From the 52-acre Rochester Riverside to the 1,000-homes planned for Chatham Waters, there’s plenty of room for more.

The great news is that the Government’s Help to Buy scheme seems to be enabling even those with low deposits to achieve homeowner status. Has anyone had first hand experience with the scheme? I’d like to know how well that have panned out for first time investors. You can contact me by email at hasan@home-share.co.uk, call on 07944 726676 or on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Hasan