Classically, and until very recently, London and the south east were very much considered to be the property investment capital of the UK.
With good reason, too. In London and the South East property prices have, over the past few decades, risen astronomically along with rents and yields.
With London being the capital and the place where the vast majority of high paid work was located, there was a huge demand for property there, however, since around 2010 this has been slowly shifting away from the capital towards Northern England and the midlands.
Cities like Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle have been growing their local economies with highly skilled, digital economies that have seen large numbers of smaller businesses and startups calling these Northern cities home.
There is, of course, also the fact that the pandemic has very quickly and very dramatically shifted work away from city centres by necessity and towards home working, in a lot of cases, by choice.
Manchester & the North
A huge factor in these cities’ rise to prominence in terms of property investment is that they have a much cheaper cost of living, as well as a number of world class universities within a few miles of their boundaries.
Manchester for example, has three, whilst Liverpool and Leeds have two. Other cities such as Newcastle, Hull and Birmingham are similar.
Students studying in these institutions no longer feel the need to go home after leaving their studies as there are a number of highly paid, highly skilled jobs right on their doorstep and they are, understandably, choosing to stay.
We can see this in population growth not just around these cities but also in larger towns like Stoke, Stockport, and cities like Sunderland.
With these younger job seekers staying in their place of study they’re helping to grow not just the local economy but also the local housing market with demand.
Without the draw of living and working within the city, London appears to be finding itself somewhat down the pecking order and there are many reports of large scale shifts of demographics towards the North looking for work, study and housing.
Looking at recent performance statistics with regards to price growth, the North West, North East and Midlands are often outperforming London by quite some distance, and there’s little indication that this is set to change any time soon.
If you’re thinking about your investment strategy for the new year, it’s certainly wise to consider investing in property in up and coming areas across the North and midlands, where demographic shifts are looking set to grow demand and rents even further over the coming years.
In particular, pay attention to the areas surrounding Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and around the midland cities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Derby. All these areas offer excellent higher education as well as rapidly growing local economies and very good value for money in terms of investment opportunities.
If you’re thinking of investing around these areas, don’t hesitate to speak to one of our specialists today.
