Often I’m asked by landlords and investors and when I chat to my colleagues from Belvoir, what makes Uxbridge a strong contender for Buy To Let investment?
1. The Jobs Market
Jobs are central to demand for housing.
Hillingdon Borough is not a dormitory conurbation, unlike other outer London Boroughs. There are more jobs in Hillingdon (thanks in part to Heathrow) than there are workers in the borough. By a factor of 1.13 compared to say Harrow to the north where the ratio is 0.50.
2. Location, location, location
Uxbridge is superbly well placed geographically. I’ve already mentioned Heathrow but sitting to the West of London we’re well placed to reach the rest of the country via the M25, M40, M4, M1 and M3 all a few miles away. Then we also have the Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Central line and two main lines locally. Great transport into London!
Crossrail which runs along the Great Western Rail line through Hayes and Harlington and West Drayton stations on 2019 has caused a lot of investor excitement and development to the south of the borough.
3. Rental Demand
Property price growth. Out of 33 boroughs the Hillingdon price rises are fourth in London at the moment. Circa 16.9% in the last year. But a year is a fleeting length of time. Over the long term prices have gone from £86,000 in 1995 to £330,000 in 2015.
4. Yield
With studios offering a yield of 6.5% to larger property let on single lets for 4.2% yield there is a choice of property available. There are other viable rental markets available such as HMO for professionals and for the Student market nearer Brunel.
5. Population Growth
Housing demand is strong in the area as the population is growing. In the last census the population was 273,000, returns locally estimate the population at 296,000. A growth of 2% per year, compared to UK growth of 0.6%. This continues to mean strong demand for rental property.
6. Hillingdon is a green leafy place to live!
Over half the borough is woodland, rivers, parks, lakes and canals. Our population density is very low for a metropolitan borough. Less that say for Brighton and Hove, Worcester and Hastings. In Greater London Havering to the east and Bromley to the South East have less density as they also verge on green belt.
Making Hillingdon an attractive place to live!
