Press Release Summary = Investors looking at the UK property market may be surprised to learn that some experts are advising them to head for the inner cities.
Press Release Body = Investors looking at the UK property market may be surprised to learn that some experts are advising them to head for the inner cities.
Traditionally home to some of the country\'s less salubrious areas, it seems the much maligned urban heartland can actually present sound investment opportunities and returns higher than the national average.
According to the research outfit Investment Property Databank - acting in conjunction with English Partnerships - investors who have had inner-city properties in their portfolio over the past five years will have seen returns of, on average, nearly 17 per cent.
This compares favourably to a national average of just over 15 per cent and has come with \"far less volatility\", according to the researchers. Residential properties in inner city areas are said to have particularly enjoyed capital value growth.
\"These figures confirm unequivocally what we have suspected for a long time - that investors are missing a trick in rejecting regeneration areas because of poor historical performance,\" said Steve Carr, head of policy and economics at regeneration agency English Partnerships, adding: \"And ironically, it is precisely this relatively lower past performance which makes regeneration areas so ripe to deliver great returns in future.\"
\"This research could literally be worth its weight in gold,\" was his conclusion after studying the report\'s findings.
It is not only residential properties that have enjoyed strong and steady growth, however. The trend has been replicated across commercial and retail properties as well, suggesting that the market in inner-city regeneration areas is versatile and presents opportunities to a wide range of investors.
One analyst who worked on the study, Rebecca Graham, found that regeneration areas put in a \"much stronger\" performance than the rest of the UK. She note noted that in the office property sector particularly, \"it is possible to achieve higher returns for less risk\".
The research partnership concluded that there are, in general, \"advantages to investing in regeneration areas over the short to medium-term, with no marked disadvantage in the long-term\".
Mr Carr described the figures as \"great news\" for the regeneration sector, stating that they demonstrate unequivocally that regeneration is working. This is of key importance, he explained, because to be successful, regeneration requires private sector entities to invest alongside public funding.
\"The greater the investment, the greater the success, the greater the return. Regeneration really can now be seen as a win-win mainstream investment,\" he enthused.
2025
