How we increased the rent 76% on a Brighton one bed flat in two months

Earlier this year, we purchased a one bed flat in Brighton. It was rented out for ￡750 per month, and we were attracted to the prospect of improving on the rental income. Directly opposite the flat is a block of small 17m2 studio apartments that are rent at over ￡1,200 per month.

The property is in a prime location for students, so we knew there would always be a strong demand to rent in this area. Its condition was ok, but would benefit from renovation works to attract the best possible tenants and higher rental income. The renovation works would minimize the maintenance of the flat and help to compete with other nearby rental properties.

However, the real value-added in this deal wasn't the renovation works; it was in the reconfiguration of its layout. With almost 50m2 to play with, it was bigger than the average one bed flat.

Before we even viewed the property, we analyzed the floor plan to see what opportunity the unit had.

The position of the kitchen meant there was nowhere for the tenants to sit and eat their freshly cooked meals, or more likely, takeaway pizza. So the lounge had to double up as the dining room. To maximize the rental opportunity, we needed the lounge to double up as bedroom two, not the dining room.

With that in mind, this is what we came up with for the floorplan before we even viewed the flat:

The change we made was simple yet significant to the potential rental income of this property. We didn't need to knock down walls, put up stud walls or anything of the sort. All we needed to do was replace the old U-shaped kitchen with a galley shape, which gave us plenty of space to add a breakfast bar.

Once we knew that the new kitchen layout would work, we checked that the lounge and bedroom could be furnished suitably for our Brighton student tenants.

For many years now, we've used RoomSketcher to create our floor plans. We use it on all our personal and professional projects, to help ensure we get the most out of every project.

We are a bit obsessed with RoomSketcher and spend hours tweaking floorplans to perfection.

The renovation works completed in August, and we got a local letting agent round to give their valuation. We were delighted that they liked the changes we had made and suggested a monthly rent of ￡1,500. Being rather late for this years' Brighton student market, we accepted an offer of ￡1,350 a month. Still, a 76% uplift in the rental income for the year ahead, or ￡600 a month extra rent compared to before.

You can see a few slides of the finished project below:

We hope you've found this article useful. Please get in contact if you would like our help with your Brighton property project.

[email protected]

www.brightonpropertyangels.com