New predictions from property consultant JLL reveal that the average investment property prices will grow by 3.5% this year in Leeds city centre. Leeds is set to see strong price growth over the next five years, averaging at 3.7% per annum, second to Manchester in terms of growth expectations.
JLL predicts that the rent prices for a two bedroom flat in the city will grow by 3.5% this year and will continue at an annual 3.5% for the next five years.
“While rents for city centre flats remained flat in 2017, we expect average rental growth of 3.5 per cent per annum over the next five years. This forecast makes Leeds our standout market to watch for rental growth over this period,” said Charles Calvert, head of residential at JLL in Leeds.
Leeds is also facing a growing demand in the rent market, fuelled by young professionals and affluent students. The city currently boats 3,500 build to rent units along with a further 2,000 private sale units in the short-term development pipeline.
“Crucially the new BTR supply coming to the market will satisfy the premium tier of rental demand that is currently completely under-served. The growth of built-to-rent developments in the city is very welcome as this asset class has to date performed incredibly well in Manchester. We expect this interest will continue over the coming years too, with developers and landlords optimising the model,” added Charles Calvert.
In addition, JLL also predicted that over the coming five years housing markets in parts of Northern England will be among the strongest. Housing market growth in the south of England has been slowly stabilising as high property prices deter prospective investors, while London’s housing market has started to stagnate.
