We are a Birmingham based company. This is where our expertise lies and the investments and developments we offer are mostly based in this area. Although we also have investments in London, in our view the Birmingham market now offers more flexibility and scope for diversification and opportunity. We are focusing on Birmingham for a number of reasons:
Birmingham has been named the most investable city in the UK for a second year running. The city was named above the likes of Milan, London and Paris in an annual survey of European investors’ intentions, which named it the sixth best place to invest money on the continent.
Please click here to see 10 Reasons Birmingham Most Amazing, published by the Birmingham Mail.
Market fundamentals
Outside of London, Birmingham is the UK’s second largest market for doing business, with a thriving manufacturing industry and growing service and tourism sector. The much-publicised HS2 rail project will unite the area with London and bring down Journey times to 45 minutes stimulating further investment and making the city one of the most commercially attractive cities in Europe.
One of Birmingham’s key strengths is its central location and huge population within a two hour drive. The city has become an attractive investment area with the largest industrial market in the country, with a thriving manufacturing and engineering centre employing over 100,000 people.
Birmingham is a major contributor to the UK having the second largest aerospace output in the world. Birmingham has the second largest number of business and financial services graduates outside of London, with the industry generating £23billion of revenue for the region. The city has particular skills in accountancy investments, retail and specialist banking services and finance, with firms like Deutsche Bank, KPMG, EY and PwC.
Market specifics
Birmingham is forecast to see a growth in the number of households from 422,022 in 2014 to 440,529 by 2019 – a rise of around 18,500 households. This equates to an average annual increase of approx. 3,680 households each year. Knight Franks forecast shows that across Birmingham as a whole, the expected supply of new homes is set to fall short of the potential growth in households by an average of nearly 2,000 a year between 2015 and 2019.
Forecasts suggest a further 17% growth in prices between 2015 and 2019 in the West Midlands, with the potential for outperformance in some local markets, for example the centre and key inner city area with high owner-occupier appeal.
Birmingham has outperformed cities like Manchester and Leeds in the last tweleve months with a growth rate of 8.2% and an average price of £141,700 according to Hometrack’s ‘house price index.’ We are seeing a trend with buyers looking for better and larger space with more emphasis on quality, rather than being driven purely by capital values.
This transformation has gathered pace over the last 2 years, and is directly linked to the improvement of infrastructure in the city alongside the relocation to the city of businesses such as Deutsche Bank & HSBC.
Birmingham has over 33,000 businesses, the largest concentration outside London, has seen a population increase of 300,000 in the last decade, and is the youngest city in Europe, with under-25s making up over 40% of its population, which makes it an ideal market for HMO’s and apartments.