What are the top property investment hotspots in the UK?

Despite economic uncertainty in the wake of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, property has once again proven its resilience and reliability as a safe investment. In this article, we’re going to focus on UK property investment hotspots, and how the stamp duty threshold might affect future purchases now that the stamp duty holiday has ended.

Understanding the current health of the UK property market

It is fair to say that the previous two years have demonstrated the diversity of the UK property market. While Covid-19 may have altered the preferences and behaviours of some home buyers and property investors, market performance has remained steady - as evidenced by the growth in average house prices.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the value of the average home in the UK had increased by over 13% between June 2020 and June 2021. While some measures designed to stimulate the market have come to an end, many are now questioning how dynamics in a post-pandemic world will shape investment decisions. However, investor appetites remain strong, with many seeking out areas of high capital growth and healthy rental yields to invest in.

Property investment hotspots: where are property prices rising fastest in the UK?

According to recent statistics, the North of the UK is performing best in terms of both capital growth and rental yields. Cities like Manchester and Leeds are doing particularly well from an investment perspective, and it’s easy to understand why.

In recent years, both of these cities have witnessed a huge amount of investment and regeneration, along with an increase in population size. Manchester is home to several prestigious universities and is now home to Europe’s largest student population, which in turn has helped attract a large number of multinational businesses and technology start-ups. The effect of this regeneration has meant that the average city-centre house price has risen by almost 6% in recent years.

Leeds is similarly home to a large student population, in addition to being one of the UK’s largest financial districts outside of London. The city is home to a plethora of new-build apartments, with economic activity predicted to grow within the area by more than 20% over the next decade. Property prices are set to rise in tandem, making Leeds one of the best places to invest in property at present.

Property investment in the South of the UK

Cambridge is currently enjoying economic growth and is currently rated as the easiest place in the UK for professionals to find employment. As home to one of the world’s most prestigious universities, it is perhaps unsurprising that trailblazing science and technology companies - including AstraZeneca, developers of the UK’s coronavirus vaccine - have made the city a base of operations.

With plenty of lucrative employment opportunities in the area, it should come as no surprise that newcomers to the area also need somewhere to live. This in turn drives up both rental yields and capital growth.

Is London still one of the best places to invest in property?

Property in London is highly-coveted, and as a result, prices are high. Despite this, approximately 40% of investors have plans to purchase property in the capital in the coming year.

While some speculated that London may have lost some of its appeal as a place to live and work (and ultimately as a place to invest), research demonstrates that it is still a primary focus among investors. As a busy and vibrant city, areas previously considered neglected or of low investment value are constantly experiencing regeneration. Many investors consider Whitechapel, Walthamstow and Hackney as up and coming property areas within the capital.

Stamp duty calculator 2021: how your investment could be affected

To stimulate the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty holiday back in 2020. This meant that many property buyers were able to save thousands on Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Now that the stamp duty holiday has ended, investors are finding themselves having to pay stamp duty once again. It’s worth noting that the stamp duty threshold differs depending on whether you are a buy-to-let investor or buying a home to move into. To help you understand how stamp duty works, and to work out how much SDLT you can expect to pay on a property, why not try using the SDLT calculator?

Where is the best place to buy property UK?

The best places to invest in property in the UK will depend on your investment style. If you’re a hands-on investor looking to maximise rental yields, you might want to consider doing your own administration work and repairs. In this instance, it makes sense to purchase property close to where you are based.

Where should I invest my property in 2021 UK?

Before considering how to invest in property, it’s a good idea to consider what you want from your investment. Are you looking to become a landlord and provide services for your tenants on a local level, or are you happy to purchase property further afield with the express purpose of profiting from capital growth? Once you’ve established this, you’ll be in a better position to consider where to invest.

Find out more

Whether you’re an experienced portfolio holder or wondering how to invest in property for the first time, it is advisable to have the right tools at your disposal. With PropertyData, you can access a wealth of data and analytics to help facilitate more informed investment decision-making.

PropertyData offers a free two-week trial and it’s quick and easy to sign up - so why not take a look today?

Sign up to PropertyData for free

How PropertyData can help you

PropertyData investor illustration

Be a smarter property investor using data

Some of the ways property investors use PropertyData to boost their returns

I'm an investor
PropertyData data illustration

Make data-driven development decisions

How property developers can use market research in decision-making

I'm a developer
PropertyData clients illustration

Save time and impress your clients with data

How agents can use PropertyData to gain an edge on the competition

I'm an agent

Limit reached

Sorry, you've reached your monthly search limit.

Upgrade your account or purchase additional credits for more searches.

Upgrade Purchase credits

Upgrade to download PDFs

There are many places in PropertyData to export data as well-formatted PDF files, including Local Data, Plot Map, Valuations, property reports and more.

  Download PDFs Branded PDFs
Basic
Standard
Pro
Unlimited
Start your free trial now

Transparent data promise

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What are the statistics used?

Averages shown are the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How do you know the square footage of properties?

We use proprietary technology to read the square footage of properties from agent floorplans. Although we cannot determine the square footage for all properties, we can usually get sufficient coverage. Agents are sometimes known to inflate square footage, and this should be borne in mind as a weakness of this data.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property "price paid" data provided by the Land Registry.

How often is the data updated?

Once per month when released by the Land Registry, typically towards the end of each calendar month covering up to the end of the previous calendar month.

What time period does the data cover?

You can customise the time period using the filter at the top of the view. The default time period is up to 9 months back from today's date. The latest data covers the period up to 2024-01-31, although some sales that took place before this date may still be added in the coming months.

How is the raw data processed?

No additional processes are applied to this data.

What are the statistics used?

Averages shown are the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property "price paid" data provided by the Land Registry, and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data provided by Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.

How do you know the square footage of properties?

We match the Land Registry data to EPC data provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. Due to the fact that not all properties sold have had an EPC and vagaries of addressing in the UK, we are not able to determine the square footage of all properties, but we can usually get sufficient coverage.

How often is the data updated?

The private paid data is updated once per month when released by the Land Registry, typically towards the end of each calendar month covering up to the end of the previous calendar month. The energy performance certificate database is updated monthly.

What time period does the data cover?

You can customise the time period using the filter at the top of the view. The default time period is up to 9 months back from today's date. The latest data covers the period up to 2024-01-31, although some sales that took place before this date may still be added in the coming months.

How is the raw data processed?

No additional processes are applied to this data.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Room let listings on SpareRoom, the UK's biggest room letting website.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from SpareRoom, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded. Yields are calculated by comparing only properties with the same number of bedrooms, e.g. 3-bedroom properties for rent with 3-bedroom properties for sale.

What is the yield calculation used?

The calculation used is (average_weekly_asking_rent * 52 / average_asking_price), expressed as a percentage. It is a top-line gross yield, meaning no expenses are considered.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated in near real-time.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from Zoopla, Rightmove or Spareroom, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Yields are calculated by comparing only properties with the same number of bedrooms, e.g. 3-bedroom properties for rent with 3-bedroom properties for sale. For the SpareRoom data, hypothetical properties consisting of two to six average double rooms with shared bathrooms are used to derived average rent. For all sources, listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What is the yield calculation used?

The calculation used is (average_weekly_asking_rent * 52 / average_asking_price), expressed as a percentage. It is a top-line gross yield, meaning no expenses are considered.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property "price paid" data provided by the Land Registry.

How often is the data updated?

Once per month when released by the Land Registry, typically towards the end of each calendar month covering up to the end of the previous calendar month.

Zoopla Zed-index

What time period does the data cover?

The data covers transactions in the last six years

How is the raw data processed?

No additional processes are applied to this data.

What are the statistics used?

The average shown is the interquartile mean, a type of average that is insensitive to outliers while being its own distinct parameter. The 80% range means that 80% of the listed properties fall inside this range.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The listings data is updated in near real-time. The Land Registry data is updated once per month when released, typically towards the end of each calendar month covering up to the end of the previous calendar month.

What time period does the data cover?

The price paid data shown goes back to January 2015. The listings data is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

What are the calculations used?

Average sales per month are for the last 3 finalised months. Turnover is average sales per month divided by total for sale. Inventory is 100 divided by turnover.

Where does the raw data come from?

Property listings seen on rightmove.co.uk, zoopla.co.uk and onthemarket.com.

How often is the data updated?

The listings data is updated in near real-time. The Land Registry data is updated once per month when released, typically towards the end of each calendar month covering up to the end of the previous calendar month.

What time period does the data cover?

This is a real-time market snapshot - the data covers currently listed properties. Once properties are removed from the portal, they are soon removed from this tab.

How is the raw data processed?

Duplicates from multiple sources are matched and reconciled as far as possible. Listings with obvious errors, where price or number or bedrooms appear out of range, are discarded.

Where does the raw data come from?

We receive data on the extent and corporate ownership of all land titles in England & Wales from the Land Registry.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated once per month when released, typically in the first few days of each calendar month.

What time period does the data cover?

This is an ownership snapshot - the data represents ownership as recorded by the Land Registry at the last monthly export.

How is the raw data processed?

No additional processes are applied to this data.

Where does the raw data come from?

We source different expert forecasts Savills, Knight Frank, OBR

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated annually when new forecasts are released, typically towards the beginning of the year.

How is the raw data processed?

We calculate a consensus forecast using a simple mean average.