Eden Project Morecambe delivers great potential for property buyers

Peter Charnley, owner of Mighty House, was responding to news that the Eden Project in Morecambe has received Government funding.

"This will be a game changer for the prosperity of Morecambe and bring considerable investment to Lancaster and Morecambe,” he said.

"The Eden Project has strong ties with Lancaster University and Lancaster and Morecambe College. The benefits go well beyond tourism and we should see the wider positive impact on education and businesses throughout the area provide a catalyst for continued investment in to the area, more well paid jobs and a thriving local economy.

“It's an exciting time and so now could well be a great time to buy property in the local area.”

Peter went on to say that currently the property market in the local area is still moving despite the financial headwinds.

He said: “Bank base rates have increased by almost 4% in 13 months. Combined with quite astonishing utility cost rises, this has impacted property affordability but there is still a strong amount of market activity.”

After a slow start to the year, the last week of January and first week of February have been very positive, he said.

The agents have seen offers being made on higher value property during January but there was a need for first time buyers to fuel the market.

"The good news is that last week our agreed sales included three properties being purchased by first time buyers,” said Peter.

"The number of viewings is increasing week on week and there is a general sense amongst the team in the office that confidence is returning to the housing market.

“Our mortgage advisor currently has rates as low as 4.09% for first time buyers which is a great deal in the current market. There is optimism that we may have reached the peak of interest rate rises and this is resulting in lenders having more confidence to reduce their lending rates which is very positive for the future.”

In terms of investment properties, the estate agents have seen a shift in some landlords’ long-term view over keeping their buy-to- let investments.

Landlords who own properties in their personal names and who have mortgages are no longer allowed to treat interest payments as tax deductible. Such a sudden and large bank interest rate hike is causing some to evaluate the viability of keeping their rental property.

Peter said: “Sadly, this will put additional pressure on a rental market in desperate need of more supply.

“There are still plenty of investors looking to buy so there is hope that there will be some balance and overall numbers of buy-to-let properties won’t decline.”