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Britain's next property hotspots |
Written by Jim Barnaby
Thursday, 06 March 2008
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One of the most notable features of Britain's strong economic
performance has been the revitalisation of its regional cities. Not
only have their economies improved, but so too have their appearances,
with many prestigious new buildings being constructed and vast numbers
of new flats and apartments appearing, with plenty of people wanting to
enjoy the city centre lifestyle to fill them. Yet this has mainly applied to city centres and fashionable areas. Many will ask whether it has made much difference to Beswick in Manchester, Armley in Leeds Property or Ladywood in Birmingham property that so much steel and glass and high-priced property has appeared a few miles away next to all the shops, offices and transport hubs. This issue may not just be relevant from an inner city urban renewal perspective, but also for those looking for the next property hotspot. In Manchester, for example, many of the new apartments have been created and are still being built just outside the city centre, in areas such as Ardwick, Ancoats and inner Salford. As city centre brownfield space dwindles, more and more new development may take place in these sorts of inner city locations. For this reason, investors may wish to keep an eye on developments such as today's pledge by the government to provide over £1 billion to its "pathfinder" areas under the Housing Market Renewal Programme. The Department for Communities and Local Government said it will provide up to £54 million a year to each location, with £100 million over three years for five locations in the midlands and north - a list incorporating Merseyside, Manchester and Salford, East Lancashire, North Staffordshire and South Yorkshire. The aim of the scheme is to take the most deprived areas - where the housing market has collapsed and populations have dwindled - and revive them. Areas such as that covered by the New East Manchester project fit this bill exactly and these factors are stated as being among the symptoms of decline on the home page of the body's website. Yet while much of the project to improve this area involves making the economy, environment and housing better for its existing population, this cannot be isolated from the creation of new city living-style apartments. Indeed, part of the current Manchester market for such dwellings lies in the project area, in districts close to the city centre such as New Islington and Ancoats. New investment may therefore play a dual role in turning parts of inner cities into fashionable areas for affluent professionals, while looking to enhance life for existing residents and kick-starting the housing market for the less affluent buyers. The government money in the Housing Market Renewal Programme is one contributory factor, but there are others. East Manchester had the 2002 Commonwealth Games and Glasgow's East End is lined up to similarly benefit from the investment attracted by hosting the 2014 games. Earlier this month the Glasgow Evening Times reported that a brownfield site which is close to the location of Athlete's Village is to be developed into new flats, the 131 extra dwellings in this currently derelict area ranging from six £180,000 penthouses to 18 affordable flats worth under £100,000. Developments of this kind - which may also appear in Liverpool as a benefit of the extra attention Capital of Culture status will confer on the city this year - are an example of how previously run-down areas of cities may be revived to help create new opportunities for investors in apartments. Today's figures from the Land Registry showed that in the last year it was flats and apartments that saw the highest rate of price inflation of any type of dwelling - 7.6 per cent against an overall 6.4 per cent - which suggests that demand remains high. This being the case, such inner-city developments may make for successful investments over the next few years. In today's world Property investment is an excellent investment option especially investment in UK Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Jim Barnaby is a real estate investment broker and successful property investment adviser delivering research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions with experience in spanish properties, french property investment, German property, Cyprus holiday homes, Property in Cape Verde, German property investment, cape verde property buy to let property
Jim Barnaby is a real estate investment broker and successful property investment adviser delivering research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions with experience in spanish properties, french property investment, German property, Cyprus holiday homes, Property in Cape Verde, German property investment, cape verde property buy to let property
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