Dennisville - built for Dennis workers, home to students

A landlord recently missed his chance to buy a three bed semi-detached property on Raymond Crescent, near the University of Surrey and the Cathedral, as it sold in a matter of days. He asked me if there is something special about the area, so I did a little research.

I have included St John's Road, Downing Avenue and Raymond Crescent in my findings for the area affectionately known as Dennisville. This was constructed for the workers at Dennis Brothers, the manufacturer of buses, fire engines, lorries and dustcarts, all built nearby on Cathedral Hill, now demolished and occupied by companies such as Philips, Palmolive, RBS and Avaya.

Dennisville was built to house Dennis factory workers

Two hundred and twenty-three houses were constructed for their workers, in the 1930's. John and Raymond Dennis died in 1939 so their names are commemorated in the names of Dennisville's St John's Road and Raymond Crescent.

Street named after Raymond Dennis, one of the Dennis Brothers

A number of two bedroom houses have sold in the area for around £400,000 in the last two years. To prepare the property as a rental investment could take around £20,000 to redecorate and install new bathroom and kitchen but this could achieve a rental of around £1395 per month, which would provide a reasonable annual yield of around 4%.

The three bedroom semi-detached properties in the Dennisville area, which were selling for a maximum of £450,000 last year, are now selling for £400,000 which is probably a reflection of the recent 7.22% slowdown in prices, over the last 12 months.

The bigger houses offer the buyer or investor more rooms, which can be more appealing especially if a landlord is planning to house students studying at the nearby University of Surrey. One such property has been let recently for £3,750 pcm, having been extended to provide six rooms for let, and even the 3 bed houses can be let to sharers for a round £2,000 pcm.

The potential gross yield for these properties will therefore be an attractive 6-10% and there is high demand from students for these properties as they only need to walk 5-15 minutes to reach their destination, at the University.

In conducting my research I managed to speak with one of only two of the original Dennis workers still living in the area. They have been residents since 1960. They purchased the property for £2,000. Now their home is worth around £400,000 and because it is unencumbered they could realise a £398,000 profit over the 59 years, which equates to an annual income of £6,745.

If you would like to talk to us about property in Guildford please feel free to call me on 01483 600840 or go to https://instantvaluation.newman.uk.com/ to discover how much your property is worth today.