An interesting new analysis into Britain’s letting market has indicated that around two-thirds of private rental accommodation is within one mile of a railway or underground station.
Younger tenants
In city and town centres where a station is present, information from Countrywide suggests that 40% of younger residents in these towns are unlikely to own a car. The same age demographic are twice as likely to live in private rented accommodation, according to the same figures.[1]
Desirability
Countrywide believes that the strongest indictor of the desirability of properties close to railway stations is the time taken to let, rather than it’s achieved rent
According to their findings, a property within one mile of a railway station takes an average of 39 days to let. This is on average 6 days less than a home in excess of one mile from a station. The uplift in possible rent achievement between the two is said to be marginal. Countrywide suggest the increase in time taken to let a property more than one mile from a station reflects how far tenants are prepared to walk.[1]
In London, the city where the level of car ownership is the lowest in the UK, homes that are least accessible by location are somewhat unsurprisingly the slowest homes to let.[1]
This said, rental homes directly next to rail stations are not the quickest properties to let. On average, it takes an extra two days to let a property in close proximity to a rail station as opposed to an identical home half a mile away.
60% of new build housing built in the UK during 2014 was within one mile of a railway station, according to Countrywide figures.[1]
[1] http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Want-fewer-voids-and-higher-rent-Let-near-a-station…