Here is Property Options’ latest update on the Bristol Buy To Let (BTL) market – for January 2020.
This update is by economist Chris Worthington, who is a regular PIM speaker.
House Prices
The latest edition of UK Cities House Price Index published by Zoopla, in association with property analyst company Hometrack, provides the following insights into the housing market in Bristol for buy to let (BTL) investors.
- Bristol remains in the middle of the league table of the 20 cities in the Index of year on house price growth at 3.5%, well above the average for the UK of 2.8%.
- The average house price in Bristol £286,000.
- The affordability of housing in Bristol (that is the average house price to average earnings ratio) is relatively high at around 9 -10, compared with 4 – 6 for the other cities in the Index apart from London where the affordability ratio is 12 – 14.
- The average time to sell in Bristol is relatively low at 8 -10 weeks, lower than many other cities including Oxford, Southampton, Newcastle, Bournemouth and London.
- Overall time to sell correlates negatively with year on year house price growth i.e. houses sell quicker in cities that have that have strong house price growth.
This is mostly good news for BTL investors in Bristol, but with a question mark over affordability exerting a downward pressure on house price growth, as has been the case in London in recent years.
However this is sustainable in Bristol as long as the local economy continues to provide well paid jobs.
Rental Market
Turning to the rental market, a recent report from specialist lender Aldermore Bank places Bristol 6th in league table of 25 UK cities for the expected return on investment for BTL investors.
The research was based on the metrics of the number of residents renting, average rents, low levels of vacant property and the employment profile of the local economy.
The top three cities in the league table were Oxford, Manchester and Edinburgh with composite scores of 74, 72 and 72, Bristol was not far behind with a score of 64. The cities with lowest score were Bradford (29), Newcastle (26) and Wolverhampton (25).
Further evidence of Bristol’s appeal to both house buyers and renters was comes from the top ten searches on Rightmove in the past year in cities in the UK excluding London. Bristol is at the top of both league tables with Manchester and Liverpool in 2nd and 3rd place for renting and York and Glasgow in 2nd and 3rd place for buying.
Most of the cities in the league have higher populations than Bristol. A higher population will increase the number of searches yet Bristol is at the top. I think Bristol’s cool image comes into play there.
Our Next Property Meeting
We will all be discussing the latest position on the property market in Bristol and across the UK at our next PIM, on Thursday 30 January 2020 at Future Inn, Bristol, BS1 3EN.
We hope you will join us then.
For more info and to reserve your place Click Below
Property Options Bristol
Leave a Reply