With a population of around 2.28million at the latest estimate (2015), West Yorkshire is one of England’s most populous counties, so it’s not surprising that there are so many new homes developments around it, and as part of the Northern P...Read more
With a population of around 2.28million at the latest estimate (2015), West Yorkshire is one of England’s most populous counties, so it’s not surprising that there are so many new homes developments around it, and as part of the Northern Powerhouse, substantial investment, jobs growth and the need for more new build homes looks set to continue well into the future.
The county is divided into five metropolitan boroughs: City of Leeds, City of Bradford, City of Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale. Halifax, Keighley, Castleford, Harborne, Pudsey and Huddersfield are among the other well-known towns within its borders.
The region has moved from the textile and engineering industries that created its wealth from the 18th to the 20th centuries, to today’s economies based around financial, insurance and service industries, but it retains its mix of industrial and urban areas within some highly regarded country landscape.
The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2016/17 named some excellent educational establishments in West Yorkshire, a major consideration for new homes buyers with families. Top states schools were Heckmondwike Grammar School, Crossley Heath School, Halifax and North Halifax Grammar School; top independent schools The Grammar School at Leeds, Bradford Grammar School and Wakefield Girls' High School.
Transport links
The main road links through the county are the A1, M1 and M62, offering connections north-south and east-west. Leeds is the railway hub, with local services is all directions to the county’s towns and villages in addition to intercity connections to London (from 2hr 12min), Manchester (from 53min), Newcastle (from 1hr 21min) and Edinburgh (from 2hr 58min), among many others achievable directly. Leeds Bradford Airport offers flights to many domestic and European destinations.
New build homes market
With urban, semi-rural and village choice aplenty, the range of settings for new build homes around West Yorkshire is impressive and gives buyers plenty of options. In its February 2017 Northern England report, global consultancy JLL talks of the “pent-up demand for city-centre residential property” in Leeds and forecasts house prices in the city of 21.6% in the period 2017-2021 and rental growth over the same period of 22.2%.
The same report looks foresees 42,000 new households per year being created across the North of England up to 2021, of which 2,200 annually are expected in Leeds alone. This will have to offer enough variety to attract interest from the spectrum of homebuyers, from first-time purchasers to downsizers and retirement property purchasers.
Buy-to-let
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported in May 2017 that Leeds is the UK’s best student hub , combining great amenities, a reasonable cost of living and relatively good graduate salaries. This is bound to attract buy-to-let investors to the city. Industry experts Hometrack regularly show Leeds is a well-performing property market, with decent returns compared to some of the UK’s other major cities.
It is likely that a large number of the new homes created to house the growing population of West Yorkshire will be in the private rental sector, in part an effect of tightened mortgage regulations on would-be entrants into homeownership.