Posts Tagged ‘hotspot’

If you’re on the hunt for those elusive property hotspots, or soon to be hotspot areas, then here’s another aspect to explore that could lead you to investing in the right area.

We’ve already looked at how looking for areas that are improved by new and better transport links can signal potential for the development of a property hotspot and another way is to look out for details of new regeneration schemes being planned or started.

Regeneration schemes involve, as the names suggests, money and development being ploughed into areas that are rundown and need a boost. It often happens in areas of towns or cities that have seen better days, or where there’s a land opportunity to build and expand. Investors who’ve taken the plunge and invested in property in previous regeneration schemes often reap the benefit of their initial risk in the long-term, when people and businesses begin moving into the newly regenerated area.

How to Find Regeneration Scheme Plans

To hunt down possible areas where regeneration is being planned, you’ll need to do a degree of research. Keeping an eye on local news and planning departments is helpful, but if you’re not located in a region that is earmarked for regeneration, then online research is a good way of finding out what’s happening elsewhere in the UK.

For example, you could keep up with news by reading local and regional newspapers online or, for a time-saving approach, set up a search on Google to automatically let you know of any mentions of new regeneration scheme plans.

It can be a bit tricky knowing exactly when to buy – too soon, and the regeneration plans may fall through or get pushed back, too late and you could miss out on making a profit – but there are sadly no hard and fast rules as to what’s best and a lot of it comes down to good instinct and sound research.

The main thing is to carefully research what the regeneration plans are including. A good regeneration scheme will not only be looking to provide new homes and buildings, but also offer good incentive for local businesses, communities, schools and leisure facilities.

As a property investor, or a soon-to-be new investor, you’ve no doubt heard talk of the benefits of finding property hotspots. These are areas that are, for a variety of reasons, up-and-coming and, for property investors, the big pull is that property prices may initially be low, but have the potential to significantly rise.

As every property investor wants to make money on their investments, investing in somewhere that could help provide that all important profit is a crucial factor – especially when the initial investment needed may be quite low.

But if you’re new to the property investing world, or are looking to branch out with a few new investments, how do you go about finding those all important property hotspots?

Improved transport links

Good transport links are important for anyone commuting to work and can play a role in making a place a property hotspot. In most of the established commuter belts, property prices are likely to be high, especially in areas within major cities, such as London.

However, when new transport links are launched or improved, it opens up the possibility for new property hotspots to emerge too. For example, in December 2009 the high-speed Javelin train service from Ashford to London launched, knocking significant time off many journeys into London. 

Whilst some areas of Kent, like Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks, are already quite pricey, there are still other areas where prices have the chance to grow and long-term rental properties could be in demand. Towns and villages in East Kent, for example, might be worth exploring.

The Kent high speed train link is just one example of how improved transport can boost an area, but the same scenario, involving different types of transport, can often have a similar effect. So keep an eye out for new developments involving motorways, link roads, trains, plane routes or airport runways.

The one thing to remember with finding property hotspots is you have to act early. If you hang about to see how the property market will fare, you could well miss the boat or the chance to snap up a bargain early, before the market rises.