How Property Investment in Morley Stacks Up

I was at a property investors event at Weetwood Hall earlier this week and chatting to an investor who has recently moved to the area from London.  He is keen to invest up here but wondering where the best place to do so is and in what type of property, hot topics in property investment circles are HMO’s and serviced accommodation, but finding the right type of property for this in the right location can be tricky in order to ensure a good return on investment.  So we came back to the traditional single let route and discussed the merits of this.

If you can find a property at a good price to give you a reasonable yield that will withstand future interest rate hikes, and also ensure that it is in an area where it’s value will increase at least as well as the area average then single lets are still a good investment.  More importantly, you need to ensure will rent easily to tenants who will let long term so minimising voids – and if you can find all that in a single let then you could be onto a winner!

Property Investment in Morley V’s Batley & Birstall

 So I thought I would look in more detail at the rental market and property investment in Morley currently and see how it compares to neighbouring Batley & Birstall.

There are currently 102 properties available to let in the Morley area, 84 of these are new to the market in the last month and 42 have had a let agreed in the last month.  That means that turnover of properties is good with over 40% of rental property that has been let in the last month (compared to just 8% of stock in neighbouring Birstall & Batley).

In fact, the average time it takes to let a typical 2 bed property in Morley is 33 days which is half the time it takes in Batley & Birstall where it takes on average 65 days.  Therefore, you can expect to rent a property quicker in Morley and thus have fewer void periods, maximising your return.

Average Rental Values and Yield

 The average rental value in Morley is £536 PCM (£431 PCM in Batley & Birstall) and therefore you might assume that property prices in Morley must be much higher too.  They are higher but the difference isn't as much as you might think.  The average price of a 2 bed property in Batley & Birstall is £98,000 and in Morley is just a little higher at £110,000.  So based on the averge rental values that would mean an average yield of 5.27% in Batley & Birstall or 5.84% in Morley and it’s actually a 10% return on the extra £105 PCM rental income for the additional £12k purchase price.

Property prices have increased on average by 6% over the last 10 years in Morley compared to a 6% decrease in Batley and Birstall so it’s fair to anticipate that the long term capital gain is likely to be more in Morley as well as returning a better yield on your investment in the short term.  Overall, if you are in the market for a 2 bed buy to let then the figures would suggest that on average property investment in Morley will give you a better return.

So it’s easy to see that even in neighbouring areas, the potential return on investment can differ greatly and that’s why it’s important to do your research and look carefully at the figures before deciding where to buy a buy to let property.  

If you are thinking of investing and would like to discuss your proposed purchase and potential return before you go ahead, feel free to call me to discuss it on 0113 436 4360.