The last 12 months has seen impressive growth in house prices across board in the North West. Figures released by Dataloft, Land Registry and DLUHC show that there has been an increase in average house prices of 14% across the region. However, the Preston market has been particularly buoyant, outperforming the North West by a considerable margin. In the last 12 months, Preston has seen average house prices rising by a phenomenal 21%.
So, what is behind Preston’s success? Since it was granted city status in 2002, the city has been on an exciting upward trajectory. The third largest city in the North West, it continues to go from strength to strength and is fast becoming one of the UK’s most attractive property hotspots.
Preston is the largest city in Lancashire, a county that generates £23bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) annually, with more than 45,000 registered businesses and around 620,000 jobs. Preston’s proximity to its economic powerhouse neighbours has set the city on its own path to prosperity. The city boasts an extremely strong employment rate of 77.5% - which is 3.1% higher than the national average.
With a further £1bn economic growth planned for the next 10 years including:
The Stoneygate Masterplan - Preston’s new £300m 25 hectare urban-village is one of the largest regeneration schemes the city has ever seen, bringing significant jobs and opportunities.
The Preston and Lancashire City Deal – £434m of funding hailed by Preston City Council as a “landmark agreement to achieve a once in a lifetime transformation of the area creating thousands of new jobs”
UCLan’s Masterplan – A £200m scheme that is set to transform Preston’s campus including The Student Centre and New Square as well as the New Engineering Innovation Centre an advanced, state of the art teaching and research facility.
Today is the perfect time to buy property in Preston and get ahead of the crowd in one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK. If you would like to find out more about our opportunities in one of the UKs most promising property hotspots, get in touch with the team today.