Well as the nights draw in, if there is nothing on the
telly, the significant other and myself like to play the board game Monopoly. The
buying and renting of property, it’s like a busmans holiday for me! Interestingly,
the game was originally invented at the turn of the 20th Century (in
1903) and the game was initially called ‘The Landlord’s Game’! Anyway, after a few years in the wilderness,
the current owners of the game renamed it in 1935 and so began Monopoly as we
know it today.
So whether you are a homeowner or landlord in Hampstead,
what would a Monopoly board look like today in the suburb? Property prices over
the last 80 years have certainly increased beyond all recognition, so looking
at the original board, I have substituted some of the original streets with the
most expensive and least expensive locations in Hampstead today.
Initially, I have focused on the NW3 postcode only, looking
at the Brown Squares on the board, the ‘new’ Old Kent Road in Hampstead today
would be Maitland Park Road, with an average value £371,400 (per property) and Whitechapel Road would
be Aspern Grove, which would be worth £456,800. What about the posh dark blue
squares of Park Lane and Mayfair? Again, looking at NW3, Park Lane would be Spaniards
Road at £4,229,700 and Mayfair would be Templewood Avenue at £5,583,000. However,
look a little further afield from the NW3 postcode, and such roads as Norfolk
Road in St John’s Wood would claim the Mayfair card at £6,351,000! Also, I can’t
forget the train stations (my favourite squares), and over the last 12 months,
the average price that property within a quarter mile of the station sold for
was £1,989,800.So that got me thinking what you would have had to have paid
for a property in NW3 back in 1935, when the game
originally came out?
- The average Hampstead detached house today is worth £5,501,192 would have set you back 9,953 Pounds 6 shillings and 1 old pence
- The average Hampstead semi detached house today is worth £3,558,176 would have set you back 6,437 Pounds 16 shillings and 2 old pence
- The average Hampstead terraced / town house today is worth £2,288,216 would have set you back 4,140 Pounds 1 shillings and 4 old pence
- The average Hampstead apartment today is worth £1,041,837 would have set you back 1,884 Pounds 19 shillings and 11 old pence.
If that sounds like another currency, you must be in your
20’s or 30’s, because it was back in February 1971, that Britain went decimal and hundreds of years of everyday
currency was turned into history overnight. On 14th of February of that year,
there were 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound. The
following day all that was history and the pound was made up of 100 new pence.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this bit of fun, but underlying
all this is one important fact. Property investing is a long game, which has
seen impressive rises over the last 80 years. In my previous articles I have
talked about what is happening on a month by month or year by year basis and if
you are going to invest in the Hampstead property market, you should consider the property you buy a
medium to long term investment, because Buy to let is pretty much what it
sounds like – you buy a property in order to rent it out to tenants.
As I reminded a soon
to be first time landlord from Primrose Hill the other week, Buy to let in Hampstead
(as in other parts of the Country) is very different from owning your own home.
When you become a Hampstead landlord, you are in essence running a small
business – one with important legal responsibilities. On that note, I want to
remind landlords of the recent and future changes in legislation when it comes
to buy to let. This year, rules have changed about tenant deposits, carbon
monoxide detectors and early in the New Year, landlords will have
responsibilities to do immigration checks on all their tenants. Failure to
adhere to them will mean a minimum of heavy fines in the thousands or in some
cases, prison ... it’s a mine field! That’s why I write the Hampstead Property
Blog, where it has an extensive library of articles like this one, where I talk
about what is happening in the Hampstead property market, what to buy (and
sometimes not) in Hampstead and everything else that is important to know as a Hampstead
landlord. Please visit the Hampstead Property Blog www.NW3propertyblog.com
If you are looking for an agent with experience that can help you find the right tenant for your property, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property. Email me on chris@ashmoreresidential.com or give me a call on 020 7435 0420. Pop in for a chat – we are based on Ashmore Residential, Suite 7, 25-27 Heath Street, London, NW3 6TR. The kettle is always on.
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