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Are Regional Cities the Future of the UK Housing Market?
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
With the latest official rent price index showing that growth in regional cities is outstripping that in London, some experts believe that hotspots such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham are the future of the UK housing market.
As a landlord or property investor, it is essential that you understand which locations are performing most strongly for buy-to-let, so that you can steer your investment strategy in that direction.
Looking at the Government’s most recent Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP), covering the month of May, it is clear that the slowdown seen recently in the London market is continuing to decline, with rent prices down by 0.2% on an annual basis. This compares to growth of 1% in Great Britain as a whole.
The figures also reveal that the slowdown in rent prices across England and Great Britain is being driven by the decreases in the capital.
Over the last two years, London rent prices have experienced a significant decline, from a growth rate of 4.1% in November 2015. It is expected that, if London continues to record drops, rent price growth for Great Britain will fall to negative territory over the next few months.
Jonathan Stephens, the Managing Director of property investment firm Surrenden Invest, has already told us that London is dead for buy-to-let.
Now, he has reacted to the recent index with his views: “The news that regional rental price growth is outstripping that of London further emphasises the role of second cities as the future of the UK housing market, particularly when it comes to attracting investment into that market.
“Regional cities such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester offer rapidly growing rental sectors with good scope for strong yields, while London has little to offer investors looking for healthy returns. This trend towards regional growth – and high levels of investment interest in that growth – looks set to continue until the London market corrects and realigns itself with the opportunities to be found in the regions.”
Does this persuade any London landlords to look instead to regional cities for property investment?
