A quick look on Rightmove will show how the rental market in Dunstable has changed in the last 2 years. If you search today for how many properties are showing to rent on Rightmove there will be 60 listed. Of these many have not been removed or updated, some are just not in a condition that is habitable and will not rent and many will be in the process of being rented and the applicants might be going through referencing. If you carried out the same exercise in January 2012 there were over 120 properties showing.
So where have all the surplus rental properties gone ?
Many of the enquiries we receive are from tenants looking to move out of London where the rents are now too high. It might be that they are starting a family and will be living off one person’s income.
They start investigating the cost of renting a property on the outskirts of London. Maybe Watford first, but that is still more than they expected so they look a bit further out and to their horror as they follow the M1 out of London they find that the likes of Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and even Welwyn Garden City on the A1 are all commanding premium rents as you can see from the chart above. They then reach Junctions 9, 10 & 11 of the M1 and find that the prices in Luton and Dunstable reduce significantly.
So what does Dunstable have to offer ?
Dunstable has suffered in the recession as have many towns and it has its fair share of closed shops.
When we opened in November 2012 our premises had been closed for over a year and the shops on each side were also closed. All of the 11 shop units on our side of Church St are now occupied with 5 new businesses opening in the last 2 years.
Many of the existing eyesores are being redeveloped or have applied for planning permission for redevelopment and the Quadrant shopping centre now has new owners who are in the process of introducing 4 new businesses.
The old Winston Churchill pub is being redeveloped into a large Indian Restaurant, The Moore’s store on High Street South has planning permission submitted to be demolished and replaced by much needed apartments and a shop on the ground floor and the Cube Bet shop on High Street North is being refurbished to open as something new soon. These all appeared on a recent article highlighting the amount of closed shops in Dunstable so maybe they will return in a year and write a very different story ?
White Lion Retail Park will soon have no vacant units, with hopefully a large Next & M & S Simply Food whilst BBC 3 Counties are soon to move into the site where the Grove Theatre is.
With the recently opened Busway link from Dunstable to Luton, Luton train stations and Luton Airport we have seen a number of tenants from Luton relocating to Dunstable.
ProLogis have just completed a speculative distribution centre such is their faith in Dunstable’s attraction to large companies such as Superdrug and WH Smith who already have their distribution centres here. The proximity to the M1 being an important deciding factor as it is for relocating tenants from London.
There is also the development of Junction 11a to the north of Houghton Regis will should take away much of the heavy traffic which clogs Dunstable’s High Streets.
This is all attracting large numbers of workers from London, the surrounding areas and Europe who require good quality accommodation which right now is in short supply meaning a property investor in Dunstable is a wise investor
For advice on the type of property to puchase and which areas of Dunstable are most sought after please call into our shop in Church Street, call us on 01582 343209 or email daniel.bourke@belvoirlettings.com.
