Posts Tagged ‘hotspot’

Our series on finding property hotspots has explored a variety of different ways in which an area can become ‘hot’ and a key attractor of tenants, such as being located near major transport links, large employers or universities. Here’s a new idea to consider – the benefits of cashing in on owning property near festival or event sites.

Many people think of the festival season as kicking off in the summer, when large popular music festivals, such as Glastonbury or Reading, take place. But there are actually a large number of festivals and annual events taking place throughout the calendar year, spanning interests such as literature, music, art, gardening, racing and sailing, in many areas of the UK. Think Cheltenham Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Goodwood, Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon, The Proms, Isle of Wight Festival or Henley Regatta.

Accommodation near each of the venues, especially the large events, is often in demand in the run-up to the events, when organisers are setting up, to during the festivals, when stall holders, attendees and the media are at the events and need somewhere to stay for short or long periods of time. With many of the events only running for a short period, it may seem unlikely that you can make much money from renting property, but actually there are benefits to be had.

In prime locations, the cost of renting a property for a week is substantial. A week of a house rental to coincide with a major music festival can command prices of £5,000, £6,000 or more, depending on the size and exact location. The closer to the venues, the better, but even those close to good direct transport links can be valuable too.

If you have holiday investment rental properties and are located near a festival then you may already be cashing in on the benefits of your location. For those looking to invest in new properties, areas around such events are well worth considering, if the figures add up for you.

To discover whether any of your properties could be festival hotspots, or areas which you could consider buying in, here are some useful links to explore:

British Arts Festivals
Literary Festivals
Virtual Festivals (music)
Garden Festivals

As we’ve been exploring in this property hotspot mini series, there are a variety of ways you can employ to try and predict potential new hotspots. Having already looked at the benefits of improved transport links, regeneration schemes, universities and schools, now it’s the turn to explore the influence of major sporting events.

Like some of the other methods of locating and identifying property hotspots, the positive influence that major sporting events can have on a location are well documented. The South African property market has spent the last few years building up to 2010, and hosting the World Cup, as did Vancouver, in Canada, which has just held the Winter Olympics.

If a major international or national event, such as World Cup events, the Winter Olympics or Olympic Games are scheduled to take place at a particular location, one of the first things people begin to think about is accommodation.

Not only does an area need to have enough accommodation to comfortably house all the sportspeople, but also their entourage of coaches. Then there’s the small matter of having suitable accommodation for all the spectators that will want to come and see the event, and all the media that will be reporting on it. During any building work, for example construction of a stadium, then accommodation nearby may also be required for people involved in the building work.

Even though the London 2012 Olympics are still two years off, reports are suggesting that tourists are already booking up accommodation in the city and property owners are beginning to think about the prospect of letting their properties for the event.

Having property in the right area and being able to cater for the rental property needs for major sporting events can be lucrative in the short term, but isn’t necessarily simply a short-lived bonus. Often areas hosting major sporting events undergo regeneration and considerable improvements to infrastructure in the lead up to the event, which leaves the area in a good position after the event is over.

Keeping an eye out for details of major sporting events, especially the locations where accommodation will be needed or players will be housed, and seeing if a property purchase in the area may work for you can lead to a good deal. If you’ve already got a rental property in the right location, then don’t forget to take action and see if you can make your bricks and mortar work in your favour!

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.