If you’re looking for affordable properties in the UK, then most property investment research is pointing in the direction of the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
HEAD NORTH FOR AFFORDABLE PROPERTIES
According to a report by Lloyds Bank, the most affordable UK cities to invest in property are all outside of the south of England. They looked at cities with the best house price to earnings ratios – and these are all located in the north.*
Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland and Stirling in Scotland are top of their affordability list with house prices 4.4 times average local earnings. In Derry-Londonderry, the average house price is £137,400.
In England, the most affordable city is Bradford in Yorkshire with average house prices of £139,712. New to the affordability list this year are Newry in Northern Ireland, Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland and Hereford in the West Midlands.
The five least affordable places are Oxford, Chichester, Winchester, Truro and Greater London.
AFFORDABLE LOCATIONS IN THE NORTH
Situated between Liverpool and Manchester, Warrington is on the up. House prices in the town are considerably lower than in its neighbouring cities.
The town is home to an Amazon warehouse and Omega have plans to build 758,000sq ft of warehousing. This could be an ideal time to invest in property in Warrington as employees will be looking for homes.
Halifax is another town with some big-name companies operating in the area, including McVities and Nestle. LendInvest listed it as one of the best places to invest in buy-to-lets due to the number of businesses and the affordability of housing. The average house price in Halifax is £149,925.**
Halifax has excellent transport connections with trains running to Leeds every 15 minutes, Manchester every 30 minutes while Bradford and Hebden Bridge are just a 15-minute train ride away.
AFFORDABLE LOCATIONS IN THE MIDLANDS
Hometrack Cities House price index recently named Leicester as the best city in the UK to invest in property. The city reported the best year-on-year growth for property prices in any large UK city.***
Leicester is an attractive location for property investors as you can reach London in just over an hour while Birmingham is just under an hour away by train.
Northampton is another location that’s proving popular. Homes in the town are selling on average in 33 days, indicating a high demand. With big business and a university located in the East Midlands town, homes are always being sought by professionals and students.
AFFORDABLE LOCATIONS IN THE SOUTH
It’s not all doom and gloom in the south of the country.
Colchester in Essex has experienced property growth and been named by LendInvest as one of the best places to invest in property when it considered capital growth, rental yield and rental price growth. The town’s popularity is due to its first-rate transport links, schools and amenities.
House prices in Leytonstone (London Borough of Waltham Forest) are relatively affordable but only in London terms. According to figures from Rightmove, the average property price of £462,000 is below the overall London average of £629,012 for 2018.
Leytonstone is considered one of London’s up and coming areas and sits on the Central line on the boundary of zone 3-4. Landlords especially look for property near the underground station.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PROPERTY INVESTMENT?
Register for our course: Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) to find out how you could earn £30,000 – £35,000 income per year on every property.
Sources:
* Lloyds Bank Affordable Cities Review:
** LendInvest Buy-to-Let Index:
*** HomeTrack Cities House Price Index:
