We all know Stephenson Avenue as one of the sought after places to live in
Grantham, as it’s the major entry road into the modern Gonerby Hill Foot Estate
with good schools nearby. The average property here sells at around £175,400
and the average rents are £637 per month.
These are reasons a landlord came to our office to find out if Stephenson
Avenue would be a better rental investment than Princess Drive, where she has a
property at the moment. When we compared the two, we found Princess Drive is
made up of three bedroomed semi-detached properties which were built in the
1950’s and are ex-local authority. On average they sell at around £98,700 and
can rent at around £525 per month.
It became interesting when we compared the possible annual yields, as Stephenson
Avenue could achieve 4.3% per year but yields are proportionately 49% more on Princess Drive at around
6.4% per year. However, we must remember that yield is not the sole
consideration when investing in buy to let. The average value of property on
Princess Drive has risen by 52% since 2001, but Stephenson Avenue has risen by
83%.
Do you want a good yield or do you want capital growth? Remember, since 2001,
inflation has been 44.4% according the
HM Government.
So Princess Drive has only gone up, in REAL terms by 7.6% (52% less 44.4% which equals 7.6%) whilst
Stephenson has gone up in REAL terms by 38.6%
(83% less 44.4% which equals 38.6%)
Yield or Growth? That is the
question!
PS I have had a few Grantham people email me Rightmove links of properties
they are considering buying. As I don’t sell houses or even let them (anymore),
I am always happy to give my opinion (good and bad) on their suitability as
rental investments .. bang an email over and i will give you my thoughts