Taking another look outside the London Property Market, and peering into the edge of Greater London, Kent.
Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. The county town is Maidstone. Kent has land borders with East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London, and a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames estuary. Kent also has a nominal border with France halfway along the Channel Tunnel. The two cities in Kent are Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rochester, the seat of the Bishop of Rochester.
Ferry ports, the Channel Tunnel and two motorways provide links with the European continent. There are airports at Manston and smaller airfields at Headcorn, Lydd and Rochester.
Kent Property Market versus London Property Market
Rental value growth in Kent has been less volatile than the South East and London, over the past ten years. Kent has experienced a 2.5% increase in rental return values, notably higher than the UK average of 1.9% and compared to a 0.9% for London (These Figures are for Office Rental). Not bad for outside London hey?
With regards to its Residential Performance, 2006 has seen a great improvement in terms of house sales. For the annual percentage rise some places have seen rises of up to 8.1% (Dartford), however taking the flipside there have been places with a -2.1% - so be careful! The overall annual percentage growth for the County is expect to be around 4% - 6% which is slightly above the National Forecast.
However these figures are forecasts and with the strife happening in the Middle East, and the increased oil prices and the uncertainty of Interest Rates we can only try to forecast as accurately as possible and take in the potential threats to the forecasts.
Areas that are anticipated for strong growth are the Dartford and Tunbridge Wells areas, both of these areas are in Greater London. Many London Property investors expect the ever increasing Property Prices of London to have a ripple effect on its surrounds areas; such as Dartford and Tunbridge Wells. In these ares there are a large number of “buy to let” investors who are striving on a strong rental demand, and are averaging gross yields of 4.6%.
The set back about Dartford and Tunbridge wells is the lack of public transport available. Both areas have direct access to London however, the journey times can take up to an hour with a normal average of 40 minutes travelling time. Kent Council are looking at ways to improve the current Public Transport Infrastucture.
London and Dartford
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