We’re in the midst of what is on course to be the busiest year for the UK housing market in over a decade, and with this continued growth evident in the North East of England, opportunities for experienced investors are extensive.
Though the South of England has, in general, been the UK’s hotspot for property investors for some time, in a post-lockdown world in particular, it’s become increasingly clear that the North East has much to offer both prospective home-buyers and investors into the residential housing market.
Research from Warwick Estates found that new-build properties are selling for 29% more than existing homes across the nation, but the highest price premium at 53% is in fact in the North East – suggesting that now could be a better time than ever for experienced investors to consider the likes of property bonds which support the provision of new-build homes in the region.
In our latest video – filmed in July 2021 – Dan Smith (Head of Investor Relations, CARLTON Bonds) speaks to Simon Lenney (Chairman, CARLTON Bonds) about the North East housing sector’s growth and how experienced investors have the potential to benefit from it.
In the session, discussing the acceleration of the housing market in general, Simon explains:
“We’re looking at the busiest housing market in a decade and it has been driven by a number of factors.
There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand after years of Brexit uncertainty, we have this post-lockdown yearning for greenery and space, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme that was introduced in April 2021 and runs until December 2022 [...] if you put all that together and look at the much-improved infrastructure that is starting to move out of London, it’s not surprising the market is where it is.”
Turning to the outlook for the market in the North East in particular, Dan said:
“Savills [...] have recently announced that house price growth in the North, depending on which area you look, is set to hit around 30% over the next five years. It’s still set to increase in London, but just [into] double digit growth [and] 30% in comparison to 11/12% is a huge difference.”
Simon responded:
“The impact on the North East of certain levels of inward investment and also improved infrastructure and transport links is going to have a major impact to help service this increase.
We’ve started seeing regular London connected flights out of Teesside (airport) [...] and there was big news about a direct London rail-route out of Middlesbrough.
And look at the confidence the Government has in sending its major Treasury function – something like 25% of its staff – and rehousing it in Darlington.”
When discussing the demand for homes in the North East, Dan said:
“We work closely with Homes by Carlton to deliver developments throughout the region and the demand there is, for want of a better word, insane.
We’re seeing a lot of off-plan reservations and a huge demand for more and more quality homes in the region.”
Later, considering investment opportunities for experienced investors interested in residential property in the North East, Dan states:
“More and more people are becoming aware of how investable a region the North East is [...] there’s still a huge opportunity for investors with the right risk appetite and focus to add housing in the North East to their portfolio.”
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