Greater Manchester often leads the way when it comes to housing and rental market performance, and the Stockport and Tameside areas have been marked top for tenant demand.
Over recent years, the north west of England has continually outperformed many other parts of the country when looking at aspects like house price resilience, buyer and tenant demand, and rental yields and returns for investors. Its affordability coupled with a vastly improving jobs market and economy make the region especially strong.
The cities of Manchester and Liverpool tend to stand out as the best destinations for property investment, but more recently, people have been looking to branch out away from these major cities. The wider area of Greater Manchester has benefited from this trend, with more up-and-coming locations being added to investors’ targets.
Stockport is one such location, and new research from Simply Business has reiterated its position as one of the top places to invest in property right now. Its latest report, which breaks down its own data as well as Rightmove’s, it lists Stockport as one of the top five places for tenant demand at the moment.
Tameside is also side-by-side, with both areas recording 48 average tenant enquiries for each property listed. This was only behind Wrexham in North Wales, which had an average of 56 enquiries per rental home, and Redbridge in East London, only slightly ahead of the Greater Manchester towns with 49 enquiries on average.
Top UK buy-to-let cities
Simply Business also compiled a list of the top 10 buy-to-let cities, looking at factors such as growth in tenant demand and rental cost rises. These are important aspects for investors to consider, as they can lead to higher annual returns – particularly for those who target lower-priced areas.
Its report showed that Glasgow had risen through the ranks to come out top for buy-to-let growth over the past year. This was followed by Nottingham, Leeds, Bristol, Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and London, which only just made the top 10.
Many of these names – including Manchester – appear across the rest of Simply Business’s buy-to-let report. For example, when focusing specifically on the houses in multiple occupation (HMO) sector, which is becoming increasingly popular among tenants and investors alike, the top five places to invest were:
- London
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Manchester
- Cardiff
Each of these cities has a strong student and graduate population, making rental homes in these places particularly sought after, while they all also have strong and improving employment prospects.
The report also looked at which cities in the UK were popular at the moment among investors with property portfolios, rather than just landlords with one or two rental homes. These types of investors are especially likely to target areas with higher demand, and the top five areas were:
- London
- Manchester
- Birmingham
- Nottingham
- Liverpool
Stockport – more than just a commuter town
While part of the attraction for Stockport is its close proximity and easy access to the city of Manchester, the town has also seen vast improvements to many of its central areas, bringing in more jobs and more homes as a result. Recent new developments have played a big part in boosting Stockport, too, and this has drawn in more investors.
For investors, it tends to offer a more affordable price point than neighbouring Manchester, which can mean better returns prospects. Stockport is also hugely popular among renters who want more for their money than they might get in the city, many of which travel into Manchester for work, or work locally.
The regeneration in Stockport is also ongoing, with numerous plans to improve the town centre and the transport system underway. These are set to provide a further boost for the area, which investors who buy there now will look to benefit from in the future.
If you’re interested in investing in property in Stockport, get in touch with BuyAssociation today to find out more about our current and upcoming projects. You can also read more of our property news here to stay up-to-date with the latest research.
