Stanley Road or Harrowdene Gardens - which is the best road?!

I was talking to a couple last month who are considering becoming landlords for the first time and they were looking for advice as to which side of Teddington they should buy. They were familiar with Teddington and had been recommended separately to buy on both Harrowdene Gardens and also Stanley Road as they are seen as more ‘affordable’. They were particularly interested to speak to me to find out which I thought would be the better investment and whilst properties on both streets can let and sell well, I wanted to do a bit more research to help them with their decision.

Their budget allowed them to look in the £300,000 to £350,000 region, so looking at just flats in both streets, the average value of a 1 bed on Stanley Road is £285,000, whilst 1 beds on Harrowdene Gardens are around £332,000. To better understand the investment opportunities available, we need to consider the rents being achieved for flats in both streets. Currently, for 1 bed flats, Stanley Road is getting slightly more than Harrowdene Gardens with £1020pcm compared to £995pcm. However, to judge a rental investment, you must consider the capital growth as well as the yield.

In 1995, the average value of a flat on Stanley Rd was £70,000 and on Harrowdene Gardens, £75,000. This shows that the average Stanley Road flat has risen by 450% since 1995 and has an annual current yield of 4.3% a year whilst on Harrowdene Gardens, prices have risen by 442% and have a yield of 3.6%.
So, considering the fact that Stanley Road flats are cheaper, rent for a better yield and have increased in value more than Harrowdene Garden flats, the research has proved useful.

Ultimately though, the difference in the yields/returns or the increase in values between the two locations are not considerable. In this case, it depends on the best available property to buy on the day and what deal you can do to get the best price.

Rebecca Smith

http://www.rebeccasmithpropertyservices.co.uk/