Investing in cities is a long term project for property investors. When we’re looking into the best value investments in property we have to look into the future and predict where the best value can be sought not just in terms of price rises, but also in demand, in yields and in rental growth.
That then begs the question – where will the wealth be created? Where will the jobs be? And where will people want to live?
These are all questions that took something of a back foot during the pandemic. Questions of growth and wealth weren’t able to be answered whilst people were restricted to their homes for public health reasons, and so it was more than a little difficult to understand where growth was happening.
Thankfully, we’re now in a position where we’re very much over the worst of the pandemic and the economy and housing market are returning to something resembling normality, which gives us a better picture to build from when we’re looking into the future.
Keeping in mind the idea of growth and future friendly investments, we’ve put together a list of the UK’s fastest growing cities from 2021 to 2023, according to data released by EY, a consultancy and cybersecurity firm.
Manchester
Identified as the UK’s fastest growing city, the jewel of the North West has seen a recent surge in building and construction activity.
There were initially concerns that the city would struggle due to its local economy consisting largely of start-ups, smaller businesses, tech and hospitality, whilst Manchester was also under restrictions for the longest period compared to any other UK city during the pandemic.
That is now in the past as the city returns to the sort of hyper-growth that has seen acres of newspaper column inches dedicated to explaining its spectacular rise to the top of the growth charts in the UK for some years.
The property market here is absolutely booming and investment opportunities aren’t hard to come by.
Sheffield
Sheffield is another one of the UK’s fastest growing cities. Known as the steel city, Sheffield has been growing in popularity quickly thanks to excellent transport links and two world class universities – resulting in a large and diverse student population.
As with other large university cities and towns such as Manchester, Sheffield benefits from a bustling and talented workforce of students that have decided to stay and make the city their home.
The property market here isn’t as advanced as in Manchester but the potential and returns here mean that there is real value to be found. Prices in the Yorkshire region are set to see a massive 28% in the next 5 years, on par with the North West regions forecast.
UK cities in 2021 and beyond
Overall, Manchester and Nottingham demonstrate just how much potential for growth there is across UK cities despite earlier fears that people were wanting to move away from urban centres now that work can be done from home.
That doesn’t take into account students that graduate and make cities their home, as well as the new young tenants and home owners that replace those moving out, and all the data and evidence so far suggests that UK cities are still a great place to invest in property.