Holiday home hotspots 2012

Getting an ideal holiday home hotspot

If you are looking for a property that you can enjoy yourself, then you will no doubt want to buy in an area that meets your personal needs. If you just want to buy for profit, then you may be a little more flexible in your approach. By broadening your search criteria, you might find yourself looking at properties that you wouldn't otherwise consider. No matter what type of holiday home you decide to buy, you will need adequate holiday home insurance.

Value end of the market

Looking at the value end of the market may yield some very positive results, allowing you to snag a bargain in the hope that its value will grow quicker than the market at large. One way to do this is by identifying hotspots of the future before the rest of the holiday home buying communities. Of course if you look toward the higher end of the market you are more likely to achieve a higher rental income, but this will come at the cost of a larger initial outlay. In this way, you can follow the current pricing trends and look to areas that are already well established holiday home hotspots. In either case, once you have your holiday property you will need to protect it with holiday property insurance.

The cost of a hotspot

The average price of property in the UK at the moment is around £160 thousand so, depending on where you want to buy, this is a good figure to bear in mind. There are certain areas where the average property prices drop well below this figure and others where they climb much higher. If you are looking for a best value bargain then Northern Ireland might be a good place to start, as the average property price is set at around £110 thousand. If your holiday property is some distance away from you, holiday house insurance becomes even more important, as does finding someone suitable to check on the property when you can't be there.

Locations

Other places where you can currently find property for less than the national average include Scotland and the North (averages around £120 thousand), Wales and the East Midlands (averages around £140 thousand), and the West Midlands (average around £150 thousand). While they may be among the areas with the cheapest housing, conversely, they benefit from having the highest rental yields. Wales generates an average rental yield of 6.1 percent, the North East generates 6.2 percent, Yorkshire and the Humber generates 6.4 percent while the West Midlands hold the top spot with 6.5. No matter where you decide to buy, you must obtain suitable holiday home insurance to protect your investment.

The areas with the least low-priced properties remain those closest to the capital and the capital itself, with the South East averaging £224 thousand and Greater London averaging £262 thousand. The South West and East Anglia also come in above the national average, at £178 thousand and £165 thousand consecutively. Whenever you are looking for a low-priced investment, it is imperative that you carry out the proper research. Houses might be bargain prices because they are in a bad area. The worst house on the best street is always a better investment than the best house on the worst street, so you have to be able to tell the difference.

Insurance

No matter where you decide to buy your holiday home, you will need to cover it with holiday house insurance. Most mainstream insurers are reluctant or unable to offer holiday property insurance, but this is not the case with HomeProtect. We specialise in delivering competitive online quotes to anyone requiring holiday home insurance, no matter what type of property you have or how it is occupied. As long as your holiday home is on fixed foundations and inside the UK, it is something we can cover.