What has been happening to Kingston rental market?

It might surprise some readers that the average rents that tenants have had to pay for a rental property in Kingston upon Thames, are only on average, 15.1% higher than they were in early 2008. When you consider inflation was 19% during this time frame, tenants are actually, in real terms, paying less for their rent.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story about the Kingston upon Thames property market. You see after the Spring of 2008, when the average rent in Kingston upon Thames was £1850 per month, there was a dip in the rents for Kingston upon Thames property of around 1.5% throughout the Summer and Autumn of 2008 as the credit crunch hit. Interestingly, whilst Kingston upon Thames rents dropped by 1.5%, the picture was far worse nationally and regionally, as rents dropped by around 10% to 15%, depending where you lived. 2009 saw stagnation in rents, but 2010 saw an explosion, with rents rising 10% in one year in Kingston upon Thames. 2011 also had an even bigger explosion, with rents rising by just over 18%. However, 2012 saw average rents drop 11% in Kingston and as we are nearly half way through 2014, rents have settled down, showing a slight dip of a couple of percentage points downwards. 

There are still plenty of tenants willing to pay for well maintained properties in great locations, especially suburban 3 bed semis or town centre apartments and they can commute into London in just 31 minutes for the price of £2,828 for a season ticket. In some outer districts of London, it takes just as long to get into the centre of London, the annual tube season ticket being in excess of £3,000, but average rents twice the level they are in Kingston upon Thames.

As we go into the Summer of 2014, average rents in Kingston upon Thames stand at £2,131pm. From a landlord’s perspective, the steady rise in rents is good news, as are steady rising property prices. Interestingly, property values in Kingston upon Thames have seen a rise of over 6.3% in the last 12 months, so with average yields being 4.7%, even if rents don’t rise, most landlords are achieving a yearly return of 11% a year from their investment. Feel free to pop through the door of our offices on Kingston Hill or send me an email to jason.ou@belvoirlettings.com


September 2014