Assetz® News - Brighton booms as town and country beckons

Brighton booms as town and country beckons

26th October 2007 |

While the latest buy-to-let mortgage figures showed Newcastle-upon-Tyne to be the district with the most deals in the second quarter of this year, those looking further south may consider Brighton to be a good prospect.

Like Newcastle, the City of Brighton and Hove is a medium-sized city with a population approaching 300,000 (it was 247,000 at the 2001 census). Unlike Newcastle it is not one part of a large conurbation but rather dominates it local area. However, it is the connection to London that is of greatest significance. While towns such as Maidenhead in Berkshire and Shenfield in Essex look forward to the access Crossrail will bring in the future, the connection to central London via Thameslink has been a cornerstone of Brighton and Hove's property fortunes since the line was established in the 1990s.

The accessibility of the city is a major reason for the 16 per cent increase in property prices in the city in the last year, as recorded by estate agent Hamptons International. The company also noted that the student population (the city has two universities) means Brighton remains a lively place to be in the winter months, unlike some seaside locations, Homemove.co.uk reports.

For all these reasons, Hamptons also predicts that property price appreciation in Brighton will be higher than the surrounding region, growing by 53 per cent in the next five years, ahead of the 41 per cent anticipated for England and Wales as a whole and 39 per cent for the south-east region.

The situation may well lend itself to successful buy-to-let investors for a number of reasons. The demand for property, either as a commuter base or a weekend retreat for Londoners is one factor. If accurate, the predictions for price growth offer a good capital gain prospect. Thirdly, the higher rental yields associated with student lets make the availability of this market another profitable avenue, with the possibility that the same houses could be let out to tourists in the summer.

As if easy access to London and being beside the sea was not enough, Brighton is also close to the South Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty which is soon to be made into a national park. So far the main connection between the city and the park has concerned the local football club's ultimately successful battle to get its new stadium built on a site some hoped would be within the park boundary. But the wider issue now is that of how large the national park's area will be.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has announced the launch of a drive today which aims to ensure the South Downs National Park area as large as possible, seeking to ensure the Western Weald is included, along with Sussex towns such as Lewes and Arundel plus Hampshire towns like Petersfield.

Whatever the outcome of this bid, the fact remains that the national park will press close to Brighton's boundaries. Planning restrictions will prevent much housing development taking place and thus mean that the expansion of the availability of houses will be limited to brownfield sites within the city. Thus the chances of supply meeting demand will be diminished, helping to push up prices, while at the same time. At the same time, the attraction of being close to a national park may add further to the city's appeal as a place to live and invest.