International Clients – why invest in the UK Property Market?
The UK remains a prime location for investors from overseas to invest in property, thanks to its stable political system, steady capital growth, and favorable exchange rates. With a varied mix of available property investment opportunities, relatively low risk, and high profitability, investing in UK properties will continue to represent a sound investment opportunity.
Although 2020 was a challenging year, the UK property market hit an 18-year high and the property boom has continued its momentum into 2021. The rental market has also stood pretty firm, with the UK’s major cities driving rental growth.
Five cities to invest in this year
Birmingham
Tops the list as the best place to invest in the UK. Average rents have risen by 30% over the last 10 years, with an average rental yield of 5.4%, and are expected to rise by 15.9% over the next four years. This will partly be due to major infrastructure projects such as HS2, the Midlands Metro extension, HS2 as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Birmingham continues to appeal to Londoners seeking to relocate, and its population is expected to reach 1.24m b7 2030.
Manchester
Continues to appeal as a top place to invest, with house prices set to grow a further 17.1% over next four years with the average rental yield of 5.37%. A host of career opportunities in global businesses and employment growth of 84% between 2002 and 2015 mean the city is now the top destination for young professionals in the North West.
With the Great North Rail project expected to come into effect by 2022, allowing 40,000 more passengers to travel throughout key cities in the North, Manchester certainly shows no sign of slowing down.
Leeds
Has one of the UK’s fastest growing economies, rivalling several European cities, and enticing nearly one in ten of those leaving London each year since 2018. This makes Leeds an ideal spot for investors seeking long-term tenants and consistent returns. Home to 800,000 people, 73% of households in Leeds are currently renting, with average rental yield of 5.1% and a price growth of 9.4% in the last five years.
Edinburgh
Is a permanent fixture in the residential investment league tables, with a price growth in last five years of 12.33% and an average rental yield of 4.19%. A hugely popular place to live and work, the Scottish capital has seen excellent price growth over the past decade. With its continually rising economy, property prices are predicted to grow by 17.1% over the next five years – the highest growth rate of any UK city.
Edinburgh
Is another key Scottish city that provides great value property investment opportunities. Offering a lower entry point than Edinburgh, Glasgow has a higher five-year capital growth to date (15.05%) and a slightly higher average rental yield (5.2%). Both of these look set to strengthen further over the next five years at 15.4% and 13.4% respectively.
Investing in the Build to Rent Sector
The ‘Build to Rent’ sector has also helped to drive top line growth across a number of major cities, while also continuing to command a premium when compared to the regular market.
For instance, 10 major cities across England including the cities of Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester have seen the largest year on year increase in rental market prices, according to the latest research from Build to Rent specialists, Ascend Properties. London still tops the largest rental premiums in the Build to Rent sector at an average of £1,785 per month. Bristol, Manchester and Leeds are also home to some of the largest monthly rental premiums when comparing Build to Rent incomes with the regular market.
This has been, in part, down to the wider lifestyle offering the sector provides. Homes designed for long term renting with the addition of social amenities and the greater availability of indoor and outdoor space is certainly something that is resonating with residence since lockdown restrictions were imposed.
What are my next steps?
There are no legal restrictions on expats buying property in the UK. Foreigners and non-residents can also get a mortgage in the UK if you need one. You will need to appoint a UK solicitor or conveyancer to handle the legal paperwork when buying a house in the UK.
We operate in all major cities of the UK. For all our international clients seeking to build their investment portfolio, we offer;
- Initial fact find & strategy call
- Access to our negotiation team
- Pre-planning reports and preparation
- Appraisal reports to calculate profitability
- Top architects and developers
- Planning reports for developers
- Considerable time savings for both investors and developers
We can work with you to identify the location and type of property that’s right for you.
If you’re not just looking for a property but seeking a strong investment opportunity, we have an exclusive portfolio of larger property developments, with minimum 8% yield or 15% ROI or 20% profit on developments. For larger property developments, we work directly with developers on projects from £5m – £20m. We also provide land for large housing schemes of 200–500 homes. Recent projects have included large developments ranging from 200 to 1000 studio flats to securing land for development of hotels and student accommodation (minimum 200 rooms).
We carry out all the research on behalf of the developer so that it is ready to go into planning. We also have exit strategies in place for all our developments, so that before the development is complete, we have secured funding through funds in the London, Middle East and USA to sell the finished development project.
Naturally, we respect our client’s privacy and confidentiality at all times.
If you would like to have an initial exploratory conversation about your property and investment plans, we would be pleased to discuss if the UK market is right for you.
