Areas of Coventry: Buy-to-Let Property Investment Hotspots
-
by Robert Jones, Founder of Property Investments UK
With nearly two decades in UK property, Rob has been investing in buy-to-let since 2005, and uses property data to develop tools for property market analysis.
Being sent to Coventry is supposed to be a bad thing. But, in reality, every shrewd property investor should welcome being sent to Coventry with open arms. That’s because Coventry is a fast-expanding city and one that has huge plans for regeneration and development. Yet, Coventry's property prices are still well below the UK average.
Why Invest in Coventry?
Coventry in Warwickshire is the fastest-expanding city in the country outside Greater London. The Census of 2021, showed recorded the city as having a population of 345,300 (up 8.9% from the previous Census of 2011) but this number could rise to 417,000 in the next decade.
Coventry is well known for being the one-time centre of UK motor manufacturing. It’s still the headquarters of the world-famous Jaguar Land Rover company or JLR. But there are many other new, modern industries here - such as research, development and advanced manufacturing - which is great news for Coventry’s future.
The city is becoming a major world centre for battery development and manufacture, with UKBIC (The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre), a £130 million, state-of-the-art national facility, having opened in 2021. The medium to long-term plan is for Coventry to become a UK hub for this technology, essential for electric vehicles and the green economy, and that shortly, this new industry could create 10,000 jobs, locally.
Coventry benefits from a great location right in the centre of the UK. It is close to the M6, M6 Toll, M69, M45 and M42, plus the A45 and A46. There are regular train services to Birmingham, London and many other places from Coventry. Coventry railway station is being expanded and a futuristic new tram system, the VLR or Very Light Rail, is currently being tested, which could transform transport around the town.
Birmingham Airport is close by and the future HS2 high-speed railway network will run to the HS2 Interchange Station in Birmingham, not far from Coventry, which will serve Solihull and the West Midlands.
Not far away, Coventry is also popular with those who commute to Birmingham. There are up to seven trains an hour to Birmingham, with the fastest journey being 20 minutes.
Coventry is undergoing a multi-million-pound regeneration and redevelopment at the moment. Designed by leading architects, Allies and Morrison and with the first building completed and the second, underway, Friargate represents a significant expansion of the the business district. There is also the £300 million City Centre South, which is a proposed development for nearly 1000 homes as well as new road infrastructure, which is close to completing the planning process and due to start works in summer 2024.
And over the last few years, £80 million has been spent on improving the city centre shopping areas and public spaces while Coventry’s historic buildings are being restored. The idea behind all these plans is to make Coventry a better place to live, work and visit.
In 2021 Coventry was awarded the UK City of Culture, hosting a huge programme of arts and cultural events and seeing 8.2 million visit the city. And in 2022 it acted as a host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. It has lots to offer visitors and residents alike. Coventry is famous for having not just one but two St.Michael’s Cathedrals and its famous Casket of Jewels. Coventry museums include the Coventry Transport Museum and Coventry Music Museum and there’s also the renowned Belgrade Theatre. The Wave is an exciting new indoor water park featuring the UK’s largest wave pool and could attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
Here’s another scheme which could be fantastic news for property investors in Coventry: The Coventry Gateway scheme is a £140 million SEGRO project to develop 3.7 million sq. ft. of industrial and warehousing units on land next to the A45 and the small Coventry Airport. It is said that the scheme could ultimately provide up to 14,000 jobs in the area.
Coventry is a huge university centre, which as of 2024, has around 54,000 students. As well as Coventry University the University of Warwick is also at Coventry. Lots of new student blocks have been built in recent years showing the huge demand for Coventry student lets. Popular areas for Coventry University and/or University of Warwick student housing include the city centre, Earlsdon, Stoke, Canley, Barras Heath and Stivichall. Warwick students also look for student lets in Leamington Spa, a separate small town south of Coventry.
Property Values
Coventry property prices are well below the UK average. According to HM Land Registry figures and as of November 2023, the average house price in Coventry is £220,658 compared to £284,940 nationwide. Also worth knowing for property investors is that Coventry seems to have bargain property compared to the surrounding Warwickshire where the average house price is £319,000.
Look on property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla and you’ll find Coventry property prices start from around £60,000.
Overall, Coventry has a booming property market with strong growth and great, rental returns.
House Price Growth
Figures taken from the House Price Index, November 2023, from the ONS for Coventry.
| Date | Price | Date | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-01 | £220,658 | 2008-11-01 | £124,988 |
| 2022-11-01 | £232,039 | 2007-11-01 | £140,780 |
| 2021-11-01 | £209,695 | 2006-11-01 | £135,693 |
| 2020-11-01 | £194,475 | 2005-11-01 | £128,203 |
| 2019-11-01 | £187,086 | 2004-11-01 | £122,880 |
| 2018-11-01 | £188,653 | 2003-11-01 | £102,193 |
| 2017-11-01 | £179,444 | 2002-11-01 | £83,941 |
| 2016-11-01 | £163,622 | 2001-11-01 | £67,184 |
| 2015-11-01 | £152,045 | 2000-11-01 | £58,679 |
| 2014-11-01 | £142,114 | 1999-11-01 | £52,263 |
| 2013-11-01 | £133,806 | 1998-11-01 | £47,214 |
| 2012-11-01 | £125,344 | 1997-11-01 | £44,297 |
| 2011-11-01 | £123,615 | 1996-11-01 | £42,073 |
| 2010-11-01 | £127,695 | 1995-11-01 | £40,483 |
| 2009-11-01 | £124,004 |
Rental Demand
According to Home's Market Rent Summary for Coventry, the average rent in the city is currently £1,272 PCM (as of February 2024). The average monthly rent is £713 for a one-bedroom property, £1,076 for a 2-bedroom property, £1,351 for a 3-bedroom property and £1,779 for a 4-bedroom property.
According to property.xyz, in postcode CV1, investors can earn rental yields of up to 7.9%.
Landlord Licensing
If you’re looking to invest in shared accommodation or HMOs (a house in multiple occupation) Coventry City Council is introducing an Additional Licensing scheme in 2020. This means that as well as licensing for large HMOs, HMOs in the Coventry city area comprising fewer than five persons will need to be licensed. As will certain properties that have been converted into self-contained flats or what are known as Section 257 HMOs. You can get more information from the Coventry City Council website.
Worth knowing for property investors is that while Coventry City itself is served by Coventry City Council, the surrounding areas fall into other council areas including North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Solihull. This can affect council tax and the all-important school catchment areas. You can find out which area any property is in here.
Property Investment in Coventry
Here’s our guide to property investment in and around Coventry.
Coventry City Centre
Population: 17,000 approx
Average House Price: £150,000
Coventry city centre doesn’t have much city living yet, except for student developments, although new projects are being proposed. But with all the developments and improvements being made to the city centre, plus all the shops and amenities, it has all the ingredients to become a great place to buy property in the future. The exception is student property: There are already thousands of student beds in or near the city centre and more new buildings are being planned.
Yields in the Coventry CV1 postcode area are around 5.6% although a good student property investment will often offer more.
North Suburbs
Population: 180,000 approx
Average House Price: £165,000 - £190,000
North Coventry suburbs include Radford, Holbrooks, Foleshill, Longford, Aldermans Green, Neal’s Green, Hawkesbury and the village of Keresley. North Coventry suburbs have good access both to Coventry City Centre and the M6 motorway at junctions 2 and 3. There’s also the Coventry Arena railway station between Holbrooks and Little Heath offering trains into the city and to Nuneaton.
Just north of the city itself Bedworth, in Nuneaton and Bedworth district, is a market town and popular residential spot. It has its own railway station and the journey into Coventry takes just 13 minutes.
The area is spread across the CV2, CV5, CV6 and CV7 postcodes where yields are between 4.6% and 5.9%.
East Suburbs
Population: 38,000 approx.
Average House Price: £130,000 - £230,000
East Coventry suburbs include Henley Green, Wyken, Stoke, Binley and Binley Woods just outside the city itself. University Hospital Coventry is here, which makes it a popular location for hospital staff to buy and rent.
The area is covered by CV2 and CV3 postcodes where yields are between 4.6% and 5.4%.
South Suburbs
Population: 92,500 approx
Average House Price: £200,000 - £300,000+
South Coventry districts include the large suburbs of Stivichall or Styvechale and Willenhall plus the separate villages of Baginton and Ryton on Dunsmore. These areas offer good transport links using the A45 and A46 to places like Rugby, Kenilworth, Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick and so are popular with Coventry commuters to those areas.
South Coventry areas further out towards and in Warwick district include some of the area’s most expensive residential locations.
The area is mostly covered by CV3 where investors could expect 4.6% on average.
West Suburbs
Population: 49,500
Average House Price: £185,000 - £350,000 plus
Suburbs in this area include Coundon, Spon End, Earlsdon and Canley plus, further out, Allesley, Eastern Green, Westwood Heath and Tile Hill.
Investors planning to buy property here should bear in mind that the University of Warwick campus and the University of Warwick Science Park where over 2,000 people work are here, meaning strong demand for buy-to-lets. The area also has train stations at Canley and Tile Hill which offer regular trains into Birmingham, so surrounding areas are good for Birmingham commuters too.
Some of these areas include Coventry’s more expensive residential areas but investors can still find below-average prices in up-and-coming areas.
The area is covered by CV4 and CV5 postcodes, with yields around 4.6% to 5%.