Liverpool, well known for the Beatles, a Premier League winning top-flight football club and a thick Scouse accent to boot, has much more to offer than it may first appear. This vibrant North Western urban powerhouse has worked hard to shake off the shackles of its industrial and shipping roots to present itself as a city shrewd property investors won’t want to breeze over.
Our research experts on hand at Parata Property have poured over copious amounts of research and unanimously formed one conclusion - you will not regret buying property in Liverpool! Here are three reasons why:
1. Colossal returns
Here’s one for you straight out of the gate, house prices in Liverpool are increasing faster than anywhere else in the UK. And yep, that includes London, Leeds and Sheffield. The regeneration and buyer demand occurring across Merseyside and Liverpool specifically, has resulted in an average city-wide increase of 10.6% in the last year. The inner-city suburb of Toxteth alone has witnessed a 20% surge in growth. This will certainly catch the eyes of investors seeking remarkable capital growth potential.
In 2019, Liverpool was voted by BuyAssociation.co.uk as the United Kingdom's best property hot-spot for buy-to-let investments. Leaving London’s average buy-to-let yield of 3% for dead, Liverpool's 5.1% average outstrips every other major city in the UK.
2. A Startup Hub
We love to talk about the Northern Powerhouse, and not without good reason! Expanding campuses of universities, new businesses, and excellent facilities for entertainment and leisure have made Liverpool attractive to a plethora of different people and businesses. With gargantuan projects underway such as the £5 billion Princes Dock investment and the £1 billion Liverpool One Shopping Centre transformation (just to name a few), investors can be confident in Liverpool’s explosion of growth to continue long into the future.
However, there is a niche business sector which seems to not be getting the attention it deserves. Although not quite yet the Silicon Valley of North England, Liverpool can take pride in the tech start-up scene it’s been quietly building over the past few years. According to research from the Centre for Entrepreneurs, Liverpool sits pretty in the top 10 UK cities for tech startups. In 2019, over £600 million in venture capital was invested in the North West, with much of this finding its way to Liverpool’s rapidly growing entrepreneurial hub!
3. Demand for Accommodation
And lastly, accommodation. Every man and his dog knows that the UK is in a housing crisis! The population is growing faster than houses are being built and Liverpool isn’t alien to this problem. Liverpool alone houses more than 70,000 students. With campus extensions in the pipeline for most of the city's major universities, this number is only heading north. Accommodation, such as shared housing is already at a deficit, making investment strategies such as HMO’s and other multi-let strategies attractive to landlords.
Students aside, Liverpool’s business sector and subsequent economic growth is set to continue. The £400 million ‘Liverpool2 Deep Water Port Project’ is just one example. Already the UK’s largest transatlantic port, the second phase of development will allow the terminals to host the world's largest shipping containers, further increasing trade, economic activity and tenants needing short and long term accommodation.
