Most expensive areas to rent
SOME of the most expensive areas to rent in Coventry have been revealed – and it’s the leafier suburbs on the outskirts of the city where you’ll pay a premium to rent a property. Demand for rental properties is set to soar in 2017, with the rental market predicted to outstrip house buying for the first time since the 1930s.
Paul Barnes, associate director at Loveitts Property Management, said the areas of Coventry currently attracting the highest rents, at least as far as properties for professionals were concerned, were Westwood Heath, Styvechale Grange, Cannon Park, Allesley and Finham.
Mr Barnes said: “Generally it is the outskirts of Coventry, the greener areas of the city that will attract the highest rents.
“Westwood Heath is a very affluent area and quite a sought-after location.
“For a four-bedroomed house for working professionals you’d be looking at anything between £1,300 and £1,500 per calendar month, depending on a variety of factors.
“However we have recently let one at £1,700.”
Fewer properties in Westwood Heath are rented and prices can go to anything between £1,500 and £2,000 per month.
Westwood Heath, a residential suburb on the western edge of Coventry, falls within the Westwood ward and is surrounded by ancient woodland that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years, including Ten Shillings Wood, Park Wood and Plants Hill Wood.
Loveitts currently have a house on Westwood Heath Road, Westwood Heath being let at £1,500.
Styvechale Grange is another of Coventry’s most sought-after residential areas.
The area was once owned largely by one family who lived at the Stivichall Estate from the 16th century until the early part of the 20th century when it was bought by the old Coventry Corporation.
Stivichall Hall was demolished after the Second World War and the grounds and estate were built over in the 1960s.
Loveitts currently has a property for rent in Alpine Rise, Styvechale Grange at £825.
It is a smaller property and a larger one could command a monthly rental of around £1,200.
Mr Barnes said given Cannon Park’s proximity to the University of Warwick, the majority of the properties there go to the student market but added: “We’re soon to get a four-bed detached that will be on the market for £1,250.
“Again, it’s a very sought-after and desirable location and will attract working professionals.”
Loveitts currently have a property in De Montfort Way, Cannon Park, being let at £1,400pcm.
Allesley can attract rents of around £1,200 for a four-bedroomed detached house, though sometimes properties there can go for between £1,400 and £1,500.
Allesley is a parish in north-west Coventry that includes Allesley Village, Allesley Park and Allesley Green. The village, which grew up around All Saints Church, has retained its separate identity because the A45 bypass channelled traffic away and the protected land known as Coundon Wedge is a barrier to development.
Loveitts currently have a house in Allesley Croft, Allesley Village being let at £1,000. Finham can see properties go for around £1,200 or thereabouts, according to Mr Barnes. Loveitts currently have a property in Brentwood Avenue, Finham being let at £1,150.
However, Mr Barnes stressed that the student market and that for professionals renting in Coventry are two entirely different entities.
Given the insatiable demand for student accommodation the student letting market can actually be quite lucrative.
“You sometimes see large properties being let for between £5,000 and £6,000... they will all be student properties,” he said.
“You can attract far, far higher rents for student marketplace which is totally different.
“Clients often say they only want professionals but then ask how much they would get for students and they’re shocked at how much it can be.”
Generally it is the outskirts of Coventry, the greener areas of the city that will attract the highest rents. Paul Barnes Loveitts