Our regular Bristol and UK property reports are written by economist Chris Worthington, who is a regular speaker at our PIMs.
At the start of a new year Bristol’s housing and buy to let market continues to be buoyant with house prices on the rise and several new developments underway in the city.
House Prices
In the the latest Twenty Cities House Price Index Index published by Zoopla, in association with property analyst company Hometrack, Bristol was placed 9th in the league table of 20 cities, with a year on year increase in house prices of 3.5%.
Bristol is the only town in the south of England to be in the top ten and it has sustained this position for the past year, indicating that Bristol’s comparative advantage for buy to let (BTL) investors is likely to continue.
New Developments in Bristol
New developments include the conversion of the former headquarters of Imperial Tobacco to luxury flats in Bedminster and new residential apartments on the site of the former General Hospital overlooking Bathhurst Basin.
The scale of new housing developments reflects the confidence of institutional investors in Bristol and provides new opportunities for BTL investors.
Quality of Life
This is enhanced by Bristol’s cool image as one of the best cities in the world to live in as a young professional. A recent survey in published in CEOWorld magazine placed Bristol 8th for quality of life in a league of cities world wide based on employment opportunities, the housing market and culture and lifestyle.
The top three cities overall were Amsterdam, Toronto and Berlin. Bristol was placed above Paris (15th) and San Francisco (13th ) while in the UK London was placed 5th and Manchester was placed 6th.
Employment Opportunities
Bristol’s highest score in the CEOWorld Magazine report was in employment opportunities. This is good news for BTL investors because high quality jobs and high salaries are drivers for house prices and rents giving a high rate of return on investment.
Quality Properties
However BTL investors should note that well paid tenants will expect high quality accommodation and they should be willing to invest and improve their properties possibly including major renovations in the style of the “Old House New House” programme on BBC2.
To do this properly the advice of an architect and support from a project manager should be considered.
Our Next Property Meeting
We will all be discussing the latest position on the property market in Bristol and across the UK in the light of Covid-19 at our next PIM.
We’ll be arranging this when we consider it is safe and practical to do so.
Meanwhile, stay safe.
Property Options Bristol
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