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The grass is greener in the south

22nd September 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

The south of England certainly has many attractions - warmer weather, rolling hills, quaint market towns and, of course, a close proximity to London. Perhaps the main attraction to live in the south England for most people though is the promise of work. For those in the business, finance, marketing and media world, to name but a few sectors, London is the place to establish a fledgling career. This is still true, despite the credit crunch and its attempts to ravage the financial market in the capital.

According to Andy Smith, managing director of property investment specialists 1st Asset, it is this context lure of the south-east of the country that will mean this region is sheltered from the continuing slide of the housing market. He stated that demand for property in the region is continuing in spite of the troubled economy as some people may be tied to the region for reasons of employment. And many cannot move further north unless they are in a position to relocate or perhaps become self employed.

Ambitious jobseekers may be keen to continue moving south even though property prices are highest here, because of the promise of higher wages. Mr Smith noted that the average wage in the south-east of the UK is £44,000 compared to between £18,000 and £22,000 elsewhere in the country. And the average salary in the city of London is as high as £71,000.

Thus, Mr Smith suggested that the south will be guarded from the full force of falling house prices, stating: "[The south] is going to be the most protected market. In real terms, what has happened in most of these markets is that rather than purchases going down, people have stopped selling."

Furthermore, there is another pressure on this area of the UK - the influx of foreign workers on the capital. Mr Smith added that changing demographics was also a big factor on house prices, as many Russians, Poles and Indians have moved to the south-east over the course of the last decade.

And while many buy-to-let investors may be tempted to purchase cheaper housing in the north of the UK, the expert warned that this is not an area he would choose to buy property. He described areas such as Castlefield in Manchester as "cataclysmic" for developers, with a large amount of planning applications being submitted each year.

Although some people may choose to disagree with Mr Smith, he may not be alone his argument for the positives of property in the region. Recent figures from Halifax showed that the eight out of the ten most expensive rural local authorities in Britain are in the south-east.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/4386.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

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