Planning to buy a property to rent out or add another to your portfolio? Wondering what to buy and where some of the best locations are around Peterborough?
What is your budget?
As a starting point this may decide whether you’re looking at apartments or houses. I’d say the starting point for houses around Peterborough is around the £150,000 mark. You can buy a 2 bedroom house for less but it may well need some work to get a good rental income on it.
House or apartment? Let’s look at the pros and cons of each;
Apartment
Pros – Popular with young professionals as often in good locations near the town centre or station
Involve a smaller investment
Outside maintenance covered by service charges
Cons – monthly service charges and ground rent will eat into your rental income
Currently not as popular as houses as outside space became a factor during the Covid lockdowns
House
Pros – Popular with couples and families so always in good demand
Outside space has become very popular following Covid
Very large and varied housing stock in Peterborough so you’ll have a great choice of properties
Cons – maintenance bills can be larger as you also have windows and a roof to maintain.
Gardens will require maintenance if you have trees and large shrubs as tenants are not responsible for these.
Where should I invest?
Let’s look at a few different properties and where gets the best return on your investment;
1 & 2 bed apartments
Nearly always rented by sharers and couples who want a short commute and a good social life. Some of the best places in Peterborough are around the station, or close to the new Fletton quays development. Woodston, Parnwell and Fletton also great options.
By the way don’t be tempted by a 3 bedroom apartment, they are notoriously difficult to rent!
2 bedroom houses
Your market is similar to the apartments but will often include families with 1 child. Depending on your tenants they have similar wants to the apartment renters but families are also interested in access to nurseries, good primary schools and local parks.
Werrington has a good selection of 2 bedroom houses or closer to town the Stanground area or roads around the town centre will get good rental yields.
3 bedroom houses
One of the most popular types of rental property and your market is families. Their top priority is good schools and for the house to have a family friendly layout. Bretton is very popular with families, as is Werrington, Gunthorpe and Hampton.
4 bedroom houses
Another very popular type of rental property especially now many families are looking for an extra bedroom in order to work from home. You’re looking at similar areas as the 3 beds but for larger homes some of the roads close to the town centre, Cardea, Dogsthorpe and the main roads heading away from town also have some great rental options. Also consider satellite villages such as Eye, Yaxley and Glinton.
5 bedroom +
We do rent many larger properties but be aware your market is smaller and they may be rented short term by families moving to the area to buy once they’ve found somewhere. These larger houses tend to be on main roads heading away from town, such as Lincoln Road, Broadway or Thorpe Road.
