As Rolande’s advice indicates, urban properties are more likely to hold value moving forward. However, property investors still need to consider whether the area offers good value for money.
For instance, London has a huge economy, excellent transport links and convenient economies. However, the property and rent prices are enormous, even in London’s up-and-coming areas. The HM Land Registry UK House Price Index puts the average property price in London at £901,625. In addition, the HomeLet Rental Index puts the average London rent at £2,127 PCM.
In addition, the Savills Residential Market Forecast predicts that London will see the lowest capital growth of any region in the UK, totalling 13.9% between now and 2028.
For these reasons, buy-to-let investors are looking elsewhere to secure better-value properties. One such place is the North West, where cities like Liverpool and Manchester offer a wealth of job prospects, world-class university options and substantial regeneration potential.
Not only do these cities appeal to a wide demographic of people due to good transport links, advantageous location and plenty of local attractions, but they also offer good-value properties.
In particular, Liverpool has an average property price of £177,076, while the average rental price is £1,102 PCM, which is much more appealing than the astronomical rental figures in London.
Also, Zoopla puts the average rental yield in Liverpool at over 7%, meaning apartments for sale in Liverpool could see high returns compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Savills predicts that the North West buy-to-let market will be one of the few residential investment opportunities to surpass 8% (forecasting 9.2%) returns in 2024, further adding to the region’s appeal.
If you’d like to know more about property investment in specific areas, check out some of our buy-to-let area guides, such as:
