Posts Tagged ‘property hotspots’

In our series on finding property hotspots, we looked at the benefits of investing in property near improved transport links, amongst other factors. Areas on existing commuter routes have long been recognised as being popular places to live but, not surprisingly, properties in such areas often come at a premium.

There were two interesting articles in the Telegraph last week touching on new research carried about Savills. They’ve been analysing the habits of commuters over the last three years and have found that the 60-minute commuter belt is now fully saturated, but that more people are commuting on a part-time basis and are happy to live a bit further away from their work.

Property prices go hand-in-hand with the length of the commute, with a 100-120 minute commuter belt journey working out the most affordable in terms of property price.

In a bid to find some of the less well known property favourites on the commuter belts around London, Savills identified small country railway stations and looked at those where 60% or more of the journeys were made by season ticket holders. There’s an interesting top 10 of places on the list in this article in the Telegraph, ranging from number 1, Dunton Green in Kent being a 41 minute journey, to number 10, Pluckley in Kent being a 75 minute commuter journey.

Although they don’t go into any more details of numbers 11 to 25, these are likely to be the areas where the journey is slightly longer and the average house price is lower. If you’re interested in exploring the potential of buying property in lesser known commuter zones, then this could be a good starting point for your research.

You could also apply the same idea to help you look for potential property hotspots in other areas of the UK that may be popular with commuters. Even if you still can’t quite stretch to afford an investment property in the centre of these towns and villages, properties in nearby areas may also have benefits for tenants wishing to be within commutable distance from their work.

For reference, the areas listed from 11 to 25 on the Savills lesser known commuter belt list near London are as follows:

11 Eynsford, Kent
12 Dormans, Surrey
13 Newport, Essex
14 Mistley, Essex
15 Ashwell & Morden, Hertfordshire
16 Crowhurst, East Sussex
17 Alresford, Essex
18 Shawford, Hampshire
19 Salfords, Surrey
20 Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex
21 Cressing, Essex
22 Ockley, Surrey
23 Warnham, West Sussex
24 Eridge, East Sussex
25 Crowborough, East Sussex

So far in our series on finding potential property hotspots we’ve explored the benefits of examining new transport links and areas undergoing regeneration. Another useful way for property investors to find property hotspots is to turn their attention to university towns and cities.

Where there are large universities, there will always be undergraduate and postgraduate students, plus lecturers, in need of accommodation. Although many universities offer good on-campus accommodation, there is rarely enough to cater for all students and some people will always prefer to live off campus anyway.

In some areas, there may already be an overload of student rental properties, but one way of finding an area that may become even more of a hotspot is to look out of universities that are expanding, offering new courses or are experiencing an influx of student applications. 

Is student property in demand?

One issue that is always worth exploring, whatever property you are looking to buy, is what the market for tenants is like. After all, there is no point buying a property with a view to letting, only to discover that you can’t get any tenants. When it comes to buying in university towns and cities, this issue comes into its own as, as long as you’re buying the right type of property and in a popular rental area, you could end up with a stream of tenants on a long-term basis.

What’s more, there are several possibilities for landlords buying in university towns and cities, as properties can rented as HMOs for several students, small studios or flats for one or two students, or properties aimed at post-grad students or lecturers.

University towns and cities aren’t just locations where you’ll find plenty of students needing accommodation though – often there are lecturers and older post-grad students studying in the area who need rental properties too. Whilst younger students may be happy to live in the heart of student land, lecturers are unlikely to want to, so choosing a property away from the typical student zone can be a wise move.

Likewise, some graduates may want to stay within close proximity of where they’ve studied once they’ve graduated and got a job, so you could hone in on this market too.

Whatever your plan of action, it’s important to research the market in university towns and cities carefully, so that you can identify the areas where students and lecturers like to live and the types of properties that are favourable. Once you’ve purchased a property, advertising and marketing your property in appropriate ways will help, especially if you can get listed on the recommended university rental accommodation lists.

Finding Property Hotspots Part 1 – Transport Links

Finding Property Hotspots Part 2 – Regeneration Schemes

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.