Panic Buying in Daventry?

As coronavirus sets in, much like if there’s half an inch of snow, a bank holiday, or a bad crop of grapes leading to a shortage of quality wine (the latter being the most serious, obviously) the UK has gone into a state of panic buying. Toilet roll, pasta, rice, soup, tinned food, and it seems after a chat with Graham Davidson, sales partner at Chelton Brown Daventry, flats too!

The start to 2020 has been a blur with the sales market boosted by the “Boris Bounce”, Brexit certainty returning and more importantly, mortgage rates at a record low. Two big ticks from me! Better public perception of the market and cheaper borrowing. With this, investors that have laid dormant for some time are coming back to the market and buying in 2020. It’s been a fantastic start of to 2020 for Graham, who has already sold 6 flats giving him a flying start to the year. But why flats? A year ago, if you’d have asked me were flats a good investment in Daventry I’d have told you to steer clear, but with rents on the rise, prices stable and flats achieving considerably less per square foot than houses, the yields have never looked better!

Another noteworthy factor to consider is that of the shortage of bungalows in and around Daventry. When space is a premium it makes sense for developers to build up, not out, and as a result there is an apparent shortage of bungalows of which ground floor flats are now fulfilling the demand. It also seems lifts, although invented in 1852, are yet to reach Daventry, with no block, to my knowledge, having one. Combined with an aging population, surely ground floor flats have good capital growth to come should the demand for bungalows not be met.

With 6 flats already sold and another 2 set to come to market, Chelton Brown’s database of people actively looking is growing FAST. Grab yourself a flat NOW before they’re all gone!