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News: Provincial Britain booming

Fri, 20 Apr 07

With Britain's provincial cities enjoying a "spectacular renaissance" - as Tony Blair put it - more and more have emerged as property hotspots, reports Assetz...

In his speech to business leaders in Cardiff, the Prime Minister praised the redevelopment of the Welsh capital and spoke of positive developments in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and Middlesbrough as examples of this trend.

While Mr Blair may not have set out an exhaustive list, the name Bradford did not appear in his speech. However, there appear to be good opportunities emerging for investors in the West Yorkshire City.

The reason for this is its proximity to Leeds. Earlier this month, Propertyfinder.com published research showing that Leeds was one of the top UK property hotspots, alongside London, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham, Landlord Expert reported.

Commenting on these findings, Propertyfinder.com chief executive Warren Bright noted that Leeds, Manchester and Bristol were the first three cities to set up urban development corporations to encourage city living and had been transformed as a result.

He said: "All these cities have experienced serious regeneration and development in recent years and are now starting to reap the benefits, attracting home buyers who want to invest in a city lifestyle without the sky-high London prices."

Ripple effect

Any visitor to Leeds can see plenty enough of this, with numerous developments rising up around the city in recent years and continuing to do so. In contrast with this, Bradford may seem somewhat down at heel, lacking the dynamic image or the increasingly impressive skylines of its fellow northern cities.

Yet all this gives Bradford an advantage, according to Meridian Property's spokesperson Salim Khan. He argues that lower property prices in the city are now enabling it to benefit from a ripple effect as prices rise in its neighbour, with plenty of scope for the value of property investments to increase.

He said: "I definitely wouldn't say that Bradford house prices have peaked, but they have increased significantly on last year. However I predict that there is far more room for property prices in Bradford to rise."

Moreover, he added, the negative image some have of Bradford was no longer warranted, saying: "Areas that used to be thought badly of ten years ago are up and coming now, areas such as Canterbury and Ravenscliff. In Canterbury six years ago we were buying at £15,000 to £20,000 for a three bedroom home. Now they are worth £90-100,000".

'Everyone moving into Bradford'

Given its location, Bradford may indeed be well placed to benefit from a Leeds ripple effect. It is still close to the M1 and has more direct A-road access to Leeds-Bradford airport than Leeds, via the A658. Given that it is slightly closer to Manchester, Bradford many advantages in terms of location.

Just as parts of Salford, Altrincham and Stockport have seen new city-living style developments as Manchester booms, so Bradford may be part of a wider renaissance across the conurbation. If so, buy to let investors may do well to heed the words of Mr Khan, who notes that "everyone from Irish investors to Southern investors are moving into Bradford," and follow suit.

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