The North of England is thriving, with support from the Northern Powerhouse concept drawing plenty of property investment.
In turn, this concept is helping to drive up property prices and rental values across the region. This has been led by Manchester, but other areas are likely to see further growth.
However, last year saw a turning point for the North West’s third city, Preston.
Regeneration
Big scale investment and regeneration programmes such as the £440m City Deal, are expected to create more than 20,000 new jobs in the next ten years. This is expected to boost the local economy by more than £1bn.
The University of Central Lancashire, based in Preston, recently announced plans to invest a further £200m into the city campus. This will see numbers rise to over 50,000, making this University the fourth largest in England.
What’s more, the city has seen the refurbishment of Winckley Square, with plans to convert several unoccupied buildings here into high-end residential apartments.
Preston offers easy access to the M6, M61, M65 and M55 motorways and is less than an hour from Manchester, Liverpool and the Lake District.
Just over 40% of the UK’s working population live within a one hour commute, making Preston an ideal location for firms. In addition, the city was named as the number one place to live for quality of life in the North of England in 2016.
Is Preston the next hot buy-to-let region?
Savvy Investors
Smart investors are now looking to the city centre, where large Victorian and Georgian properties can be purchased for the same price as a two-bedroom apartment in Manchester.
Typical rental yields are Preston are:
1-2 bed new build city centre apartment-7.8%
2 bed terraced house or flat-6.2%
3 bed semi detached house-5.5%
3-4 bed detached house-5%