Opportunity for an apartment in Romford, London generating £10,740 in rent pa & a gross yield of 4.8%

The borough is within the London Riverside Opportunity Area, which is a regeneration scheme that will transform previous brown belt sites along the Thames; Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Wood will be connected to the Elizabeth line in 2019; green spaces are great for families.

• Romford is the principal town of the London Borough of Havering in East London and forms part of Outer London. Other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham.
• Considered one of the ‘up and coming’ places to live and raise a family in Outer London.
• Gaining popularity as a commuter town, just 12 miles east from the City of London, Romford is an attractive option that is only going to continue incentivising buyers and renters once Crossrail is fully functional.
• Romford is a currently a major retail and leisure destination and is one of London’s Metropolitan Centres.
• The south the borough extends into the London Riverside redevelopment area of the Thames Gateway.

Property

• Havering has approximately 108,837 dwellings, and with the Elizabeth line stop in Romford, there are plans for thousands of new homes in the Borough and Romford itself is getting £35 million investment around the riverside.
• House prices stand at £376k and have grown steadily year on year increasing by 1% in the last 12 months (+40% growth since Jan 2015). On average, there has been 266 sales per month over the last 12 months (98 sales recorded in Jan 2019 versus 269 in Jan 2018).
• Rents have stayed flat over the last 12 months at £1,230 but have grown +15% since Jan 2015; albeit not at the pace of house prices. On average there have been 139 rental listings each month over the last 12 months (173 in Jan 2019).
• Buyassocation.co.uk projects that the next 5 years will see a further 22% growth in property prices and rental growth of 16%.
• Simply Business’ ranked Romford 6th for rental price increase in their buy-to-let index, which is compiled using data from the Land Registry and Zoopla.

Population

• The population of Havering is estimated at 256,000 which has increased 11% over the last 10 years (versus 229,800 in 2007).
• 62% of the population is working age (between the ages of 16-64) versus 67% in London.
• Havering is projected to increase a further 12.8%, higher than the expected Greater London projections (+12%) over the next few years to mid-2024.

Businesses

• Romford is one of the top 15 retail centres’ in the South East, currently attracting more than 25 million visitors each year.
• There 9,690 enterprises located in Havering, of which 98.5% are small, employing less than 50 people.
• Since 2010, the number of local businesses has grown by 44% (+2,945).

Schools

• Primaries: among many good, St Peter’s Catholic, Ardleigh Green, Broadford, St Ursula’s Catholic and Nelmes “outstanding”.
• Secondaries: Frances Bardsley Academy for Girls, The Royal Liberty (boys), The Campion (Catholic), Drapers’ Academy and Redden Court are “good”.

Connectivity & Transport

• Eight trains an hour into London Liverpool Street (17-31 mins)
• The Elizabeth line will run to Paddington, and eventually Heathrow and Reading
• The District line skirts south at Hornchurch and Upminster.
• By road, its 15 minutes to the M25, and 30 minutes to the Dartford Crossing or M11.

The area ticks all of the boxes for renters looking for a home on the outskirts of the capital: it has a thriving nightlife scene, a growing business sector, a famous market, good schools, as well as excellent transport facilities. It is also ideal for those wanting to be in London whilst being closer to the Essex countryside; a short drive along the A12 will take you to the rural town of Brentwood, whilst the A127 will take you directly to the popular Essex beach, Southend-on-Sea.