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Hello and welcome to the third Dockside Property Services annual newsletter.

As before, this offers us the opportunity of writing to all of our valued clients, to thank you for your continued patronage and to give a brief overview of local market conditions, together with any developments likely to be of interest to you.

2006 has thus far been a mixed year for the rental and sales markets. Our continuing early concerns regarding first time landlords' panic selling due to lower than expected rental returns, have not born fruit. In fact we have seen quite the opposite and over the last eight months have been very short on property for sale. It seems that those vendors that are looking to move are renting out their existing property, rather then sell it. The obvious effect that this has had on the sales market has been an extreme shortage of sales property. On the rental side it has been quite the reverse, with too much property and too few tenants. Without the much touted possible massive influx of cheap property, purchasers have realised that the dream of grabbing a bargain will remain just that and have become more realistic with their offers and viewing requirements. Our clients tend to be a switched on bunch and thanks to the internet have a wealth of information at their fingertips. This allows them to see how much recent properties have sold for and what is going on in the rental market.

We are immensely proud to announce that Mr. Jonathan Bell has joined the Westferry Road team in the role of sales manager. Jonathan has over 10 years Docklands experience, has an excellent reputation and turned down positions with some large, corporate companies to join us. "Dockside has a great reputation and in my opinion independent agents adjust to market changes much quicker than their corporate competitors" he said.

On the administration front Toni Murray is assisting Bria Share and will be taking over the Docklands management when we sadly say farewell to Bria when she returns to Australia in October (is this a good excuse to open a branch in Oz?). Marlie Noriega continues to oversee the management of all property and administration duties. Both have substantial experience and each offer their very own special brand of excellence, internally and to our clients alike. Our commitment to offering a continuingly high level of service culminated in all branches joining the Association of Residential Lettings Agents earlier this year. ARLA have very strict joining requirements and will help us stay at the very forefront of the numerous changes that the industry as a whole are facing over the next few years.

One such change is the introduction of the Tenants Deposit Scheme, of which Dockside are founding members. We will of course keep you informed of all regulatory changes as they occur.

Our Rochester branch continues to go from strength to strength and has very quickly built up a superb reputation throughout the Medway area. No doubt helped by its High Street location, its success in a relative short term is a testament to Dockside’s good name and the excellent team that we have there.

We are now able to offer landlords with more than one rental property massive potential savings on their buildings insurance. Advantages include one policy with one renewal date and savings up to 45%. Email spencer@dockside.co.uk for more info.

STOP PRESS

As we write this the government have announced a major u-turn on the much criticised HIP’s (Home Information Packs). The most contentious part of the pack, the Home Inspection Report, is no longer mandatory. There is still major resistance from both MP’s and the estate agency industry against the HIP’s as they stand but it still looks likely that some sort of pack will come into place next August. We will of course keep you informed.

Until next time, please let us know if we may be of any further assistance and thank you for your continued and valued custom.

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