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Liverpool Property Market information

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As the housing market stands at the moment housing in Liverpool is moving fairly fast due to developers taking advantage of the low value housing with plans of turning the more rundown estates into desirable areas worthy of the newer tenants wishing to become part of the capital of cultures workforce.

Below you'll find a wealth of property market analysis, data and statistics for Liverpool. This property information has been designed to be of interest to potential home buyers and house sellers.

Given that over the past 5 years the UK national average for housing price growth has been 102.0% and general capital growth increased at 12.4%. It was interesting to find that Liverpool came in at 137.0% and 15.5% respectively.

Liverpool as a whole has seen in only the last 12 months a further percentage increment of 5.3, with housing prices at an average current value of £135,112.

These increases give an indication of the potential Liverpool holds as a prime area for buy to let / property investment, general property development and off plan property submissions. As a city Liverpool is still in the early stages of regeneration and as a result house prices (especially in the areas bordering the city centre) are particularly low compared to all other area averages.

With more buy to let / investment property constantly becoming available in all areas the advice from Off Plan Investments is to buy in now before the newly crowned Capital of Culture becomes out of reach.

Market Characteristics / Demographics

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The breakdown in property styles looks like this:

Semi detached property tops the list with	38.5%	49,486
Terraced property tops the list with	37.9%	138,608
Semi detached close second on	35.2%	128,562
Flats and apartments make up	16%	58,458
Semi detached housing makes up	10.7%	39,215
Temporary housing is bottom at	0.1%	520

As you can see from the statistics above terraced and semi detached property make up over 70% of the total housing in Liverpool. Although the idea of housing estates filled row upon row with terraced housing doesn’t exactly give cause for the excitement the upside is the average house price.

Terraced pricing is similar across the board in Liverpool with areas such as Kensington, Kirkdale and Bootle having the highest volumes,

1.Take Bootle as an example, the average price of a 2 bedroom property is £83,623 which is significantly lower than the national average £187,894. The area is already a healthy rental area with a high proportion of property socially rented. First time buyers and young families will find these types of highly attractive especially when you couple the price with the price earnings ratio which for Bootle is 6.9.

In basic terms this ratio enables you the potential buy to let / investment property owner to obtain a mortgage with an earning specific lending of 6.9 given that the average earnings within the area is around £13,000.

For similar areas look at: L4, L5, L6, L7, L8, L9, L10, L12, L13, L14, L15, L20, L21, L24, L27, L28, L32, L33, L34, L35, L36.

2.The middle ground in terms of property is areas such as Halewood, Prescot, and Whiston.

The price range in these and surrounding areas is anywhere between £160,000 - £200,000 with the vast majority of housing in the shape of semi-detached and the odd larger detached buy to let / investment property.

The local demographic for this housing band is as follows; 40% of the local population is retired and currently holds the highest number of new home transactions and sales in Liverpool. Which if you read between the lines indicates that the retiree’s are moving away from the area leaving there homes for smaller/cheaper alternatives. What this mean for a potential property developer/investor is that this high quality real estate is available for refurbishment or change of purpose.

E.g. the house is worth approximately £160,000 which if bought to redevelop and change into 4 luxury flats/apartments means you could command around £100,000 plus per property. The figures speak for themselves in terms of profit.

3.The highest priced areas are in and around the city centre with luxury apartments commanding the highest prices; this however is to be expected mainly because of the capital of culture title and the urban regeneration which centred itself here.

New developments are in high demand with supply not as quick to catch up. An L1 postcode could easily cost you upwards of £200,000 for a 2 bedroom apartment, to put it in perspective with the other statistics you could obtain an buy to let / investment property on the cusp of the development area for a third less.

The other more affluent areas of Liverpool are places such as Formby and Crosby. In terms of buy to let / property investment these areas are lagging behind slightly, this isn’t really due to anything other than the housing.

Using Formby as an example the area is already well above par with average price tag of £243,348, and is also why it is populated by people with a median age of 45 and 67% of the 24,721 population in full time employment earning wages to match their status. To put a final point on these specific parts of Liverpool only 9% of the total sales in the last 12 months were situated within these 4 locations.

Future Development

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Since the capital of culture bid was accepted the City of Liverpool has gone into over drive with regards to property development, and not just residential property either.

The city officials have taken time and effort to sit down and set up an achievable 5 year plan with a list of other accepted plans to go into effect within their current 10 year plan.

A number of different aspects were looked at from environmental issues and the possible solutions, urban regeneration on a grand scale with new affordable modern housing top of the list, commercial business space to bring Liverpool in line with the likes of Manchester and London.

The towns planning department spent a great deal of time commissioning young and upcoming architects mixed with the wise men of the industry to design and build the most inspiring buildings conceivable. This has resulted in some real awe inspiring developments which are either currently being built or are in the final stages of preparation; this in turn brings with it a new lease of employment life to the city.

• Multi million-pound, mixed use retail/leisure and general residential development, creating around 3,000 jobs.
• A flagship business park and public open space will be created on the former GEC and Sugarbrook sites.
• Re-imaging of Aintree industrial/business which will include: general environmental improvements, highways and signage.

This was something which previously was seriously lacking. Liverpool has held an unfortunate record over the years for unemployment figures but this is all beginning to change as corporate giants begin to move into the city centre. Company names such as: Barclaycard, Sony Computer Entertainment, Gardner Systems, Mando Group, Marconi and supermarket giants Tesco and Morrisons.

These and many more businesses will be moving into various locations throughout Liverpool including.
Edge Lane – Wave Tree Technology Park – Liverpool Digital – New Parkland – Edge Lane Retail Park – Rocket Junction – A 565 Atlantic Avenue – Wellington Employment Park – Leeds Street Employment Area – Stanley Dock – Estuary Commerce Park – National Biomanufacturing Centre – Venture Point – The Matchworks – Hangar 2, The Aerodrome – Hangar 4, The Site – Speke District Shopping Centre – The Mersey Wave. Other areas of regeneration include major changes to the aesthetics of Liverpool with plans to create man made greenery and beautiful public open spaces for the population of Liverpool to enjoy all year round.

Other areas such as Rocket Junction, the major connecting junction from M62 have been chosen for pieces of defining public art as a present to Liverpudlians and visitors alike.

Buy to Let / Property Investment Areas

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Off Plan Investments believes the major area for buy to let / investment at this precise moment is the city centre with the council spearheading several initiatives for affordable city centre living. The major driving force behind these initiatives is the ongoing high demand for buy to let / investment property, according to statistics since the 1990’s, more and more people have wanted to live in the centre and at that time there was ample room with only 2,340 people owning or occupying properties, however by the middle of 2006, that number had reached nearly 13,500. With figures expected to rise to around 20,000 by 2010.

Liverpool vision (Council named initiative) was formed in 1999; with city centre living was one of its main priorities. Vacant buildings and empty spaces in spaces above shops and in Victorian warehouses were the main target for change of purpose. These have now all been changed into beautiful homes for those who wish to live in the city centre.

Although there are now less empty buildings which can be changed into homes, demand is still strong. People are looking for large, luxury 2 and 3 bedroomed homes. So with demand still at an all time high the council has opened the floodgates for off plan properties and buy to let / investment property, if you are shrewd you can contact Off Plan Investments www.off-plan.co.uk for details of property we have on our books in Liverpool.

The other areas also commissioned for buy to let / investment property are part of neighbourhood partnerships scheme. This project proposes that the more poverty stricken areas of Liverpool received improved housing, raising school standards, reducing crime and tackling poor health. With regards to buy to let / investment property it means that in most cases a compulsory purchase takes place and property set for demolition or if the existing property is still in a repairable state then refurbishment and redevelopment takes place.

All together there are 22 locations scheduled for redevelopment and several of these areas are on the boundaries of the city centre one of these sections is Northern Liverpool and although being one of the worst deprived quarters of Liverpool still has major advantages, with its position being so close to the docks and city centre plus major road, rail and bus links plus two premiership football teams very close by. For more information on the newest developments around Anfield, Breckfield, Project Jenifer and Urban Village.

Off Plan Investments believes that these sorts of buy to let / investment property and developments are worth considering when thinking about adding Liverpool to your buy to let / property investment portfolio.

The history of property in Liverpool

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Liverpool holds a proud maritime heritage with the docks being a major trade route for England and at the start of the 19th century controlled over 40% of the worlds passing trade.

In 1952 Liverpool was twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city that shared the horrifying experience of excessive aerial bombing. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain.

Liverpool contains over 2,500 listed buildings (of which 26 are Grade 1 listed and 85 are Grade 2 listed) It is the inheritance of high minded public sculpture than in any UK city aside from Westminster, more listed buildings than any city apart from London, and surprisingly, more Georgian houses than the city of Bath. Many well known architects are represented in Liverpool, including Peter Ellis, Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, John Foster, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Sir Edwin Luytens and Sir Frederick Gibberd.

The city along with Manchester was also the first city to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1974 Liverpool was given the title metropolitan district within the newley created metropolitan county of Merseyside, it had previously been Lancashire. The docks eventually became all but obsolete by the late 1980’s and as a direct link employment figures in the city plummeted to a record low, however this has all changed in recent years with the ongoing regeneration on the city and now with the added accolade of ‘Capital of Culture 2008’ this regeneration is set to continue into the future and beyond.