Situated around 31 miles south-west of Birmingham, Worcester is a historic town with approximately 100,000 residents. Famous for its medieval cathedral, the city has many architectural styles including Tudor, Georgian and more modern buildings. Located on the banks of the River Severn, places surrounding this county town of Worcestershire include Bromsgrove, Pershore, Droitwich Spa, Redditch, Kempsey, Stourbridge, Whittington, Kidderminster, Barnt Green, Leigh, Norton and Lower Broadheath. The average property in May 2017 was worth £200,759, an increase in house price value of 7.2% over twelve months.
Worcester is a popular commuter town for Birmingham with, on average, 72 daily trains to Birmingham New Street Station and journey times taking just over an hour. Some are now looking at Worcester as a long-distance commuter town for London. If that tempts you, a season ticket would cost just under £800 with the average journey time 2 hours 25 minutes. A number of A roads pass through the city with the M5 situated just to the east of the city. Birmingham International Airport is 27 miles away.
In 2016, plans were revealed to build 3,600 new homes across two sites in Worcester. The South Worcestershire Development Plan also announced plans to build 20,400 new homes in the wider area by 2030. Persimmon Homes and Linden Homes are two housebuilders currently active in the development of new build houses. The Help to Buy scheme is available to give financial assistance to those looking for new home ownership, including some retirement properties in Worcester.
There are already a large number of houses and apartments available for rent in the area lessening buy to let investment opportunities. Indeed, at the time of the stamp duty increase in 2016, the number of rental properties available rose by 50% in one month. The current average rent charged for a one-bedroom property is £517, two-bedrooms £683 and three-bedrooms £796. For a typical mortgage, buy to let landlords in Worcester may need at least 60% of the asking price as a deposit which is around £115,000.