Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa February/ March 2020

UNITED KINGDOM SPONSORED Where & when you should invest abroad Comparing investment properties in SA & UK I nternational property expert and founder of Hurst & Wills, Lisa Bathurst, compares an investment property in South Africa versus one in the United Kingdom. Bathurst also gives insight for when the best time would be to buy. “To do a like-for-like comparison, I have chosen to look at student accommodation. This asset class is an affordable investment that provides high yields,” says Bathurst. “In the UK, it is the most resilient real estate asset class and has outperformed most other property types even through the 2008 recession. The cost of a purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) unit in the South African university town of Stellenbosch is similar the price of one in a Northern UK city, like Manchester, Newcastle under Lyme or Nottingham,” she says. So, which is the better option? (See the comparison in Table 1). “The main differences are that South African options do not come with guarantees,” says Bathurst. “The UK also has the advantage of being a significantly stronger economy with a stable governance and credible legal system, despite Brexit,” she says. 48 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine “Hurst & Wills’ UK student accommodation units are fully managed, so completely hands-off from tenant finding and management to all the maintenance,” she says. “The units are fully furnished, including a TV, fully maintained and redecorated every year. Most importantly, they come with Student accommodation SA vs UK SA UK Student Accommo- Stellenbosch dation Newcastle under Lyme Purchase price ZAR R1 950 000 R1 387 000 Size 26 m 2 21 m 2 Levies per month R1950 Included for 5 years Management fee 10% Included for 5 years Yield 3.8% NET 7.5% NET guaran- teed 5 years

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