Birmingham is one of Britain’s most popular buy-to-let property investment markets. To explain why, we have produced a downloadable guide that considers factors including:
Many pundits, journalists and other commentators have declared Birmingham to be the UK’s best performing property investment market. To support their arguments, they cite some of the city’s most notable strengths.
Many of the same factors that make the city appealing to property investors also make it attractive to large employers and foreign commercial investors. As a result, Birmingham has seen a large, steady influx of new money and job creation by such organisations as BT, HSBC, Barclays, PwC and others.
The region’s economic development teams have been keen to build on this success and, consequently, Birmingham is witnessing a number of important new regeneration projects and infrastructure investments, together with improvements to Birmingham Airport.
Birmingham Skyline
Often regarded as England’s second city, Birmingham has long been home to some of the country’s biggest employers. In particular, it is the UK's second biggest commercial and financial centre after London. It hosts organisations such as PwC, Deutsche Bank, KPMG, HSBC and Allianz, and as such, it represents one of the largest clusters of business, professional and financial services companies anywhere in Europe.
To capitalise on this status, developers and public bodies have created a wealth of grade A office space in prestigious, newly regenerated districts. Examples include:
Our Birmingham Property Investment Guide provides more details but it’s clear that Birmingham’s fortunes are rising and that investors can look forward to seeing a city with more jobs, a buoyant economy and a rising population. In turn, these developments should mean strong rental demand, rising yields and good prospects for strong capital appreciation.
Birmingham has a strong economy worth an estimated £28 billion per annum, and it has been growing steadily. Recent figures from Birmingham City Council suggest that by the end of Q3 2019, it had expanded by 3.6%, equivalent to an extra £985 million.
Some of this is the result of growth amongst big-name employers and the success of the city’s financial and construction sector, but there has been steady organic growth amongst the city’s small and medium-sized enterprises. The urban business community has grown by just under 5% (approximately 2,000 firms) in the last 12 months, and further expansion is almost certain, given the extent of local investment. In all, Birmingham’s 20-year Big City Plan is targeting the creation of 50,000 new jobs and, to judge by current performance, it is well on its way to achieving it.
Some of Birmingham’s fastest-growing industries include:
In 2022, Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games, which is expected to have an important positive impact on the city. In preparation for the Games, parts of Birmingham will receive additional investment to improve transport and public spaces, creating upwards of 4,500 new jobs each year. Once the Games themselves begin, Birmingham is expected to welcome roughly one million extra visitors, and the economic impact should be substantial. Estimates put the resulting increase in GVA at around £780 million, and as much as £1.5 billion over the longer term.
All of the factors listed above could have a positive effect on the city’s housing market and on its appeal to property investors. Many commentators therefore rank Birmingham more highly than any other British buy-to-let destination, pointing to recent data as evidence of a strong, all-round performer.
Five universities operate in and around Birmingham, creating a student population of around 80,000, and sustaining employment for thousands of teaching and managerial staff, together with employment in their local supply chains.
Universities:
Yields on conventional student rentals and purpose-built student accommodation typically vary between 5% and 6.5%.
As a result of ongoing large-scale investment and arguably the fastest population growth of any British city, Birmingham is hotly tipped to remain one of the country’s most rewarding property investment destinations in 2020 and beyond.
Industry predictions:
For property investors, Birmingham is sending out all the right signals. Everything is moving in the right direction: its population, economy, jobs, housing supply and its historical performance in terms of price growth and yields. For all these reasons and more, Birmingham remains one to watch in 2020 and beyond.
For more information, please download our guide: Property Investment in Birmingham – A Guide.
Additional reading:
For more information, please download our guide to Property Investments in Birmingham:
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We have recently completed a purchase of a BTL through Residential Estates. I found their team (Chris and Danielle) to be easily accessible, and willing to answer queries in detail. They pay great attention to details and not one of my questions left unanswered. They are also very responsive, and will get back to you when they say they do. Having received plenty of unsatisfactory communication from different agents over the year, I’ve a great appreciation for their hard work... to other prospective investors I would say Residential Estates is a viable option for property deals. Both Chris and Danielle are knowledgeable, helpful and professional. Absolutely no hard sell and we are encouraged to do our own search, and moving in our own pace. They seem to have a good network/relationships with their vendors, solicitors, and letting companies, which makes their offering is far better than others. We would gladly use their services again for the next purchase.
