Sheffield is a major city in South Yorkshire with a population of approximately 575,000 (2016 estimate). Widely known as Steel City, reflecting its British steelmaking history, it has transformed itself into a modern metropolitan centre for commerce, culture and tourism. Nowadays, it has a growing, vibrant economy and is particularly successful in advanced manufacturing, creative and digital employment. According to Sheffield City Council the average house is currently worth around £151,000. Places within easy reach include Aston, Rotherham, Dronfield, Royston, Chesterfield, Beighton, Barnsley, Mexborough, Doncaster and Wales.
The M1 lies just to the north-east of Sheffield with the M18 also relatively close by leading to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and on towards the Humber ports. Manchester Airport, Leeds Bradford Airport and East Midlands Airport are all within one hour’s drive of the city centre. Trains run frequently to London with a journey time of just over two hours and a one-way ticket can be good value costing as little as £15.00. The city also has a good local transport system including a modern tram service.
Sheffield City Council is very active in the building of affordable new house developments. A two-bedroom semi-detached new build home has recently been available for under £100,000, for a three-bedroom new build property the house price is around £150,000 and £200,000 for four-bedroomed new build houses. Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Redrow are some of the housebuilders who have new build housing developments in Sheffield, including many apartments and retirement properties. The Help-to-Buy scheme is also available to many buying new build houses in Sheffield.
The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University have around 60,000 students between them. As a result the demand for rental properties is generally very high. In addition, a good proportion of properties in Sheffield are now considered too expensive to buy which means there’s a strong reliance on the rental market and giving investment opportunities for those gaining home ownership through a buy to let mortgage.