Have been taking a fresh look at the yields for property in West Drayton, which I have been doing for a few years now. West Drayton continues to attract a lot of interest from investors with the Crossrail upgrade to the station at West Drayton due to start rolling in 2019.
This spreadsheet takes recent examples of property on the market in the UB7 postcode which covers Yiewsley and West Drayton and compares it to the expected rental income in the area to give you an idea of average rental yields for different types of property. Yield being an expression of rental income divided by the property price.
Yields are still good, with studios yielding around 6.1%, even though the sole studio in West Drayton on the market at the moment an expensive one at £142,000, which can skew the numbers!
So at the moment a one bedroom flat in UB7 will cost from £175,000 and will let from £750pcm which makes for a yield of 5.1%. What I would always try and do if find the property at the lower end of the scale which will let for £800pcm or £850pcm. But in a sellers market getting the gems at best value for money can be tricky. At the moment I see nothing which will cease the increases in price we have seen in West Drayton and Hillingdon. That won’t go on forever but enjoy the value increases at the moment and think long term.
The Rise of the One Bed
There are a few anomalies in this information which are the more interesting parts! For example why are yields in one beds less than two beds, when we would expect to see the other way round. This has been the case for a while in West Drayton.
This time last year one beds were on the market for an average of £172,500, this year that figure has increased to . This year the price range is between £220,498 so a fair rise of in value in that time of list prices of 27.8% – far greater than Zoopla or Land Registry have come up with. So perhaps that rise has driven the change but that can’t be the whole story as two bedroom property has also risen going from on average £230,000 to £280,000 which is still a rise of 21.7%.
As an entry level property demand for one beds and studios remains good.
Luxury Flats
There are a lot of more expensive one bedroom to let in the area, but especially two bedroom flats on the market in West Drayton, such that West Drayton average rents are now around £1298pcm compared to £1298 in Uxbridge (the both are the same), when traditionally Uxbridge has been the more expensive of the two locations.
Where is Demand Strongest?
The old rules still apply, having a well presented clean property within close distance to the station with parking will tick the right boxes. Price at or slightly below the middle range and your property will likely let. Always happy to look at individual property and take a look and advise if that would help you!
If you are thinking about buying a buy to let property in West Drayton or anywhere in the Borough of Hillingdon, send me a Rightmove link via email to jeremy.wasden@belvoir.co.uk and I will send you my thoughts on the property as a potential let and the kind of rent I would expect it to generate. No obligations and I won’t publicise my thoughts to anyone else unless they ask me independently about that property.
