Towns in North Yorkshire and Devon are ripe for residential development and investors should not limit themselves to London and the South East, according to research by CB Richard Ellis.
A new model designed to identify areas where housing is desperately needed in England has pinpointed that some towns in the North and South West have attractive conditions for residential development.
Harrogate and Skipton, in North Yorkshire, scored highly, reflecting low levels of housebuilding combined with high house price growth and good employment prospects. Similar conditions exist in Wimslow in Stockport and across Cheshire.
In the South West, Dartmouth and Salcombe in Devon scored highly due to the massive house price growth both areas have experienced over the past decade.
As expected, areas such as Kensington and Chelsea topped the list of development hotspots. Others such as St Albans emerged as a close second, outperforming London boroughs such as Camden and Hammersmith and Fulham.
Jennet Siebrits, head of residential research at CB Richard Ellis, said: “Attractive development prospects are not limited to London and the South East and there are a number of excellent opportunities in other regions. Harrogate and Skipton, for example, could make attractive development prospects as indicators point to a surge in demand over the next few years.
She added: “There is a chronic shortage of housing across all tenure types in the UK. Developers and property companies are keen to restart building programmes, but continued funding difficulties mean the ability to develop is limited to those with healthy balance sheets.”
james.a.kenny@estatesgazette.com
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