The Parklands development was built around 2006/7 and is located close to the town centre behind the Grove Theatre and Leisure centre. A gated development with allocated parking, it is a much sought after location especially for young professional couples and the apartments are modern with balconies and entry phone systems.
A little quirk is that the apartments were not metered so there is a communal meter charge which some landlords will include with the rental figure. Also most of the bathrooms in the 1 bed apartments would seem to have been built without a fitted shower over the bath! Unheard of today and surely an oversight, but if you do purchase an apartment here this is something you might have to consider fitting if it hasn’t been done retrospectively by the owner.
Investigating the properties currently on offer and recent purchases we have found these:
Currently a 1 bed apartment, possibly a repossession, is advertised at £99,950. This was first listed at £109,950 in October 2013 and currently has an offer of £98,000. With a potential monthly rental of £575-£595 you would be looking at a rental yield of just over 7% and if the service charge and ground rent is included a rental yield of nearly 6%.
A more typical 1 bed ground floor apartment sold for £115,000 in December 2013. With a potential monthly rental of £575-£595 you would be looking at a rental yield of just over 6% and if the service charge and ground rent is included a rental yield of around 5%.
The Parklands was built and completed at the height of the property boom in 2006/7 and the changes in property values reflect this.
If we look at the 1 bedroom apartment above which was bought for £115,000 in December 2013 we can see that in 2006 it was first sold for £155,000.
Another 2 bed double bedroom apartment with ensuite which first sold in 2007 for £176,000 sold again in December 2011 for £136,000. The valuation on this apartment is now around £145,000
In the last year property values in The Parklands have risen nearly 8% and as a much sought after development in Dunstable we would consider this a safe investment with a steady and very acceptable rental yield.
If you want advice on investment property in Dunstable you are considering purchasing please come in and talk to Daniel Bourke at Belvoir Dunstable where we are only too happy to carry out research on the property potential.
