The Northern Powerhouse has positioned itself as the UK’s most promising economic bet.
Helmed primarily by the North Western cities of Liverpool and Manchester, the Northern Powerhouse is becoming a haven for population growth, favourable house prices, students and a great way to get good returns on your investments.
This is no more evident than in the property market, which is proving to be a blessing for investors looking for high returns on low entry costs.
House prices have grown in the Northern Powerhouse faster and more consistently than anywhere else in the country. The region experienced growth of 5.6% in the 12-month period ending July 2018. London witnessed negative growth of 0.7% across that same period. The wider South East region suffered a similar malaise; only 1.8% of growth in that time. Against the national average house price growth of 3.1%, the Northern Powerhouse is racing ahead of every other UK region.
The Liverpool property market has been aided by consistent growth, and the numbers make great readers for property investors in the city. Over the last five years, the average house price has shot up by 25%; a £34,827 increase in real terms. The current average value of a property in Liverpool stands at £173,101, with the average price paid hitting £154,264.
Leading property firms such as RW Invest are inundated with buy to let investment clients who know that properties in the Northern Powerhouse are prized, and the clamour from potential tenants is too much to ignore.
The boom in the Northern Powerhouse’s property market has been encouraged by the rise in populations of both Liverpool and Manchester. The last decade has seen Liverpool’s population double to 470,000. The past ten years saw Manchester’s population spike by 20% and by 2030 it is estimated that over 600,000 people will call Manchester home.
By contrast, the year to June 2017 saw approximately 330,000 people leave London. Many of them are professionals in their 30s. Disturbed by a slumped housing market, a lack of affordable rental opportunities and a surfeit of unskilled jobs flooding the market, these London exiles are seeking their fortune elsewhere. The number of London leavers heading 200 miles to the Northern Powerhouse has grown by 371% in the past year.
Renewal and regeneration is the name of the game in the Northern Powerhouse, and the quickly increasing populations, workforce and student body are set to benefit and enjoy a future buoyed by massive, ambitious urban regeneration projects.
Liverpool Waters is the £5.6 billion project that will revolutionise the city’s Dockland areas. As part of an ambitious 30-year plan, Liverpool Waters will reshape the city coastline, while bringing unprecedented amounts of brand new residential, commercial and office space to swathes of the city that have been crying out for development.
In Manchester, the £1 billion Trafford Waters development will modernise the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, creating 5,000 jobs in the process. Developed by Peel Land and Property, the company responsible for Liverpool Waters, the area will become home to 3,000 new apartments, one million square feet of commercial and office units, a new hotel, a care home and even a new primary school. Trafford Waters aims to not just revitalise an area but imbue it with a new and modern sense of community spirit.
The only way is up for the Northern Powerhouse, and it is clear it presents a far more attractive investment opportunity than London.
