HMO Management in Bedford

HMO Management in Bedford

For years now, Bedford has maintained its status as a historic county town of Bedfordshire. Situated between Oxford and Cambridge, the place has a lot to offer in terms of arts, leisure, and history culture. A market town combined with economic growth in Bedford is one of the reasons for a growing HMO market in Bedford. Over this time, we’ve specialised in HMO management in Bedford aimed at our core customer base; company lets and working professionals. 

With the intense migration in the 20th and 21st century, Bedford has become very diverse in population. It has developed a cosmopolitan culture which includes Italian, Asian and even eastern European origins. The region has a population of over 153,000 consisting of 57 ethnic groups which make the town to offer plenty of opportunities and cultural diversity to suit many.

Bedford is divided into ten parts commonly referred to as wards. These wards differ with their governances whereby three (Cauldwell, Queen’s Park, and Kingsbrook) are governed by community councils, one (Brickhill) managed by parish and six (Goldington, Harpur, De Parys, Castle, Newnham, and Putnoe) do not feature institutions like that.

HMO Market in Bedford

With the risen property price of up to 6% in the past 12 months, tenants are not discouraged to get on the property market. In fact, the demand for rental properties in Bedford is still in place and the market is expected to continue rising in the foreseeable future.

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This increase in interest is led by the fact that the area is a property hot spot according to a leading online estate agent. With the fast risen supply and demand of properties in Bedford, the property hot spot has ranked the area in the top 10 list of in-demand places in the United Kingdom.
This is great news for HMO operators.

It’s easy to commute to London from Bedford  

One of the contributing factors that have led to the rising demand of properties in Bedford is the fact that many potential buyers are realising that it’s easy to commute to London through the high-speed railway link to the city.

For many years, people have considered Bedford too far from London leaving it unsuitable for people who are looking for areas near London.

Today, this is totally different! The journey from Bedford to St Pancras is just 40 minutes, therefore, people looking to commute can have an easy and fast way to and from the city.

You should remember though, Mileage is not the only thing you should consider when determining a commuter area. You should check the transport link to get a more realistic view of the best place. In our case, Bedford is perfect for commuters to the capital considering the strong transport links available. You should consider this if you are looking to buy properties.
The average rental prices for a property in Bedford is around £860 but you can get a one bedroom flat for £565 to around £433/ month. In other areas, this figure is commonly weekly figures so people looking for properties in Bedford will find the area a great value for money and as such, the HMO market in Bedford good for investors and landlords.

Even though there are no recent figures yet, the country has been impacted by the awaiting tax changes. With this, the landlords in Bedford are likely to snap up the properties at a cheaper rate. Even with that, if the landlords can acquire the properties at better prices, it’s likely that the tenants won’t pay higher. However, this hasn’t taken place yet but the general property price rise in the past 12 months has led to an increase in rental prices.
If you intend to dive into the HMO business, ask an HMO specialist on their take on the tenant demand in your target market. There are few available options for HMO managers in Bedford.

Bedford Article 4 Regulations

If you do it right, HMO properties can offer great financial rewards. Still, managing HMO properties can be time-consuming with frequent property and tenant issues arising on a daily basis. The newest complication for HMOs in Bedford is the introduction of Article 4 in late 2020. In effect, this removes permitted development meaning all new HMOs will require planning permission to be granted. We expect this to cause an increase of HMOs to the market in 2020, followed by a flowing of new HMOs properties. Whilst may not be the best news for those looking to enter the market in 2021, the long term outlook is positive. If the trend is similar to the introduction of Article 4 in Milton Keynes a number of years ago, we should see increase room rates and properties prices for those with planning (both meaning a better return for investors in the long run).

HMO Management in Bedford

Even give this, there is no substitute for a specialist manager that knows the local HMO market in Bedford. This helps you have a hands free HMO investment, plus maximise returns with higher rooms and lower voids. If you’re interested to know more on how our HMO management services can help you, just contact us.