The orthodox way of classifying property in the UK is to look at the number of bedrooms rather than its size in square metres (although now we are leaving the EU – I wonder if we can go back to feet and inches?).
It seems that homeowners and tenants are happy to pay for more space. It’s quite obvious, the more bedrooms a house or apartment has, the bigger it is likely to be.
The reason is not only due to the actual additional bedroom space, but the properties with more bedrooms tend to have larger / more reception (living) rooms. However, if you think about it, this isn’t so astonishing given that properties with more bedrooms would typically accommodate more people and therefore require larger reception rooms.
In today’s property market in Rotherham, the homeowners and landlords I talk to are always asking me which attributes and features are likely to make their property comparatively more attractive and which ones may detract from the price. Over time, buyers’ and tenants’ wants and needs have changed.
In Rotherham, location is still the No. 1 factor affecting the value of property, and a property in the best neighbourhoods, such as Scholes Village or Moorgate can command a price nearly 50% higher than a similar house in an ‘average’ area. However, after location, the next characteristic that has a significant influence on the desirability, and thus price, of property is the number of bedrooms and the type (i.e. Detached/ Semi/Terraced/Flat).
In previous articles, I have analysed the Rotherham housing stock into bedrooms and type of property, but never before now have I cross-referenced type against bedrooms. These figures for the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council area make fascinating reading. It shows 85.9% of all properties in the area have 3 or more bedrooms
| Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced (including end-terrace) | Flat | |
| 1 bedroom | 25 | 145 | 75 | 222 |
| 2 bedrooms | 409 | 3,057 | 3,356 | 695 |
| 3 bedrooms | 3,667 | 22,606 | 7,506 | 326 |
| 4 bedrooms | 6,093 | 4,280 | 1,327 | 63 |
| 5 or more bedrooms | 1,407 | 1,182 | 228 | 13 |
I was genuinely surprised at the low numbers of one and two bed properties – particularly two bed semis detached houses. This is especially notable as tenants like the smaller one and two bed properties in Rotherham. It might interest the homeowners and landlords of Rotherham, that there has been a change in the numbers of properties on the market and the split in bedrooms on the market over the last 12 months:
- 12 months ago, 38 one bed properties were for sale in Rotherham; today there is 46 – a rise of 21%
- 12 months ago, 280 two bed properties were for sale in Rotherham; today there is 293 – a rise of 5%
- 12 months ago, 501 three bed properties were for sale in Rotherham; today there is 375 – a drop of 25%
- 12 months ago, 145 four bed properties were for sale in Rotherham; today there is 102 – a drop of 30%
- 12 months ago, 44 five + bed properties were for sale in Rotherham; today there is 46 – a rise of 5%
For several years Rotherham buy-to-let investors have been the only buyers at the lower end (starter homes) of the market, as they have been enticed by high tenant demand and attractive returns. Some Rotherham landlords believe their window of opportunity has started to close with the new tax regime for landlords, whilst it already appears to be opening wider for first-time buyers. This is great news for first time buyers.
One final note for Rotherham landlords – all is not lost! You can still pick up bargains, you just need to be a lot more savvy and do your homework… one source of such information is this blog but you could also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-date insights into the Rotherham property market.
