{"id":6087159,"date":"2022-06-06T08:50:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T07:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buyassociation.co.uk\/?p=6087159"},"modified":"2022-06-06T08:50:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T07:50:40","slug":"city-centre-new-builds-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/2022\/06\/06\/city-centre-new-builds-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Are city centre new-builds the best value for money?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s been a shake-up among some city centre dwellers since the outbreak of Covid, with some migrating to the commuter belt, but where’s the best place to look for a new-build?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Towns and villages within commuting distance of some of the UK’s major cities have been inundated with interest as a result of the ‘race for space’ sparked by the pandemic. As central areas became less busy and home-working became the norm, many chose to seek a quieter life elsewhere.<\/p>\n

However, recent months have shown some reversal in these trends. Many offices have invited staff back in at least on a hybrid basis<\/a>, while some employers and employees have been keen to return to the office permanently.<\/p>\n

From a housing perspective, this has seen appetite for properties in city centres bounce back. Meanwhile, the appeal of new-builds<\/a> in general has been on the rise, particularly in light of the ongoing focus on greener living, as well as rising energy bills.<\/p>\n

New research from Unlatch<\/a> looked at this dynamic, analysing property prices in city centre locations for new-builds, compared to newly built properties in commuter belts.<\/p>\n

City centre new-builds could be cheaper<\/h4>\n

Unlatch’s research looked at 12 major UK cities, comparing new-build house prices to those in surrounding local authorities. It found that the average city centre<\/a> new-build costs \u00a3304,204, while those in the surrounding areas cost an average of \u00a3326,346 – a difference of 7%.<\/p>\n

It highlighted Nottingham as a city centre location offering the best value for money compared with the commuter belt around it. There, new-builds come in at an average \u00a3233,047, compared with \u00a3310,213 in nearby local authorities, which is a 33% premium.<\/p>\n

Other particularly affordable city centre hotspots included Bristol (a 27% difference between the city and its local commuter belt) and Sheffield (22%). Unlatch also noted that Manchester<\/a>, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow all offered particularly good value for money.<\/p>\n

Long-term trends<\/h4>\n

We are now living in a ‘new normal’ post-Covid period, with people’s working patterns, work-life balances and location and home preferences all quite different to what they used to be. Yet it is difficult to ascertain whether these changes will be temporary.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, more companies than ever are offering flexible working, which could mean commuting locations<\/a> and even rural areas hold their appeal. Yet city centre living offers a unique experience that still attracts swathes of people who want amenities and work on their doorstep.<\/p>\n

Lee Martin, head of UK for Unlatch, says: \u201cUrban living isn\u2019t everyone’s cup of tea, but the high cost of homeownership has traditionally pushed many aspirational buyers from the inside out, looking to the commuter belt for a greater level of affordability.<\/p>\n

“However, this long term trend has driven heightened levels of house price growth<\/a> in these \u2018next best\u2019 areas and, more recently, a reduction in demand for homes within our major city centres has also reduced as a result of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

“The upshot is that now there are a number of major cities where buyers can secure a new home for a better price than they may find across the commuter belt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Return to the city<\/h4>\n

A recent survey by Nationwide found that the proportion of people looking to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life had \u201cdeclined substantially\u201d. It found that around 12% of movers were currently prioritising this in their move, including seeking more outdoor space, compared to 15% last year.<\/p>\n

According to Emma Cox, managing director of real estate at Shawbrook Bank, poor supply levels are \u201cinsulating sellers\u201d and this is set to continue, particularly in traditional UK\u00a0housing market hotspots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe return to city centres after a two-year hiatus and the demand for more face to face interactions again could reignite the UK\u2019s love affair with cities such as\u00a0London<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s been a shake-up among some city centre dwellers since the outbreak of Covid, with some migrating to the commuter belt, but where’s the best place to look for a new-build? Towns and villages within commuting distance of some of the UK’s major cities have been inundated with interest as a result of the ‘race… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1069,"featured_media":6027764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[255,498,44],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6087159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1069"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6087159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6087159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6027764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6087159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6087159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/zh-hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6087159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}