York has been named in a report as one of the key locations that property developers should be looking at.
In all there are 18 areas in the UK where economic fundamentals suggest there are good opportunities for developers at a time when the government wants to build more homes than ever.
An analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank and planning consultancy Barton Willmore names them as Leeds, Manchester, York, Durham, Birmingham, Nottingham, Warwick, Leicester, Brentwood, South Cambridgeshire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Exeter, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Guildford, Reigate and Banstead and Tunbridge Wells.
Factors examined included economic growth, employment growth, stock to sales ratios, affordability and liveability. These rankings were then placed alongside the latest conditions in the local planning environment as well as local knowledge, to highlight areas which suggest there is the possibility for outperformance for developers, not only in terms of pricing but also market absorption.
In the North of England it is Manchester and Leeds that are expected to be among the areas which will experience the strongest rates of household growth over the next 10 years, while York scores particularly highly on liveability rankings.
The report suggests that the green belt will pose constraints for developers in and around Durham and York but at the same time, there is a need for more site identification, as these two areas do not yet have a five year land supply.
York boasts policies to boost housing supply as it has been identified as one of the first Housing Zones in England.
Meanwhile, Leeds plays host to an Enterprise Zone and the North East Combined Authority, of which Durham is one of the constituent boroughs, has also bid for 175 hectares of Enterprise Zone over 10 sites. The report points out that this new combined authority has just been granted extended powers over housing.
Of the four Development Opportunity areas, only Leeds has an approved local plan and as policymakers push ahead with the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, especially the transport infrastructure to support this, the opportunities in the North of England will widen, it adds.
The report also explains how there has been a cumulative shortfall in housing of around 330,000 units since 2008.
However, the situation is improving. Construction starts in England in the second quarter of this year were 94% higher than in the same quarter in 2009, but there is still some way to go. In the year to July, around 113,000 units were started, down from 152,000 during the same period a decade ago.
Another measure of future activity, pipeline planning, suggests that the upward trend will continue. Data from Glenigan, the construction analysts, shows that there were more than 293,000 units with planning permission across the UK in April this year, up from 253,000 in April last year, and 184,000 in April 2013.
