The Northern city has been named the top English location for investors, according to Colliers’ latest report.
The biannual Colliers Top UK Residential Investment Cities has dropped for the first half of 2024. The report pits 20 UK cities against each other, comparing them based on five pillars: economics, R&D, environmental, property, and liveability.
Predicted GDP, housing price growth, population growth, EPC rankings, nearby attractions, and student populations are among the 24 indicators Colliers explores when crafting the ranking.
Manchester was ranked third best by Colliers, beaten only by Edinburgh and Glasgow, which claimed gold and silver, respectively. London came in fourth. The closest Northern competitor to Manchester was Leeds, which was ninth on the list.
Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, and York were also examined by Colliers, but did not make the top 10.
However, Liverpool did get a nod in the property section, which looked at affordability and house price growth – coming in third in that category. Newcastle was fourth and Sheffield fifth, with Glasgow and Belfast taking the top two prizes.
York managed to break through the liveability pillar, which examined life satisfaction, broadband speed, and availability of leisure facilities and attractions. It came in fourth in that category, beating Cambridge but behind Reading, Oxford, and Edinburgh.
Leeds and Sheffield both earned spots in the environmental section, coming in fourth and fifth, respectively. They were bested by Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
Manchester’s triumph is largely due to its economic performance. The report noted its predicted 2.2% annual GDP growth over the next five years – a figure that is well above the average for the 20 cities examined in the report (1.8%).
The city has also seen a housing price growth of 33% during the last five years, compared to the 15% average in the other cities. Add to that a forecasted average unemployment rate of 3.7%, a projected annual population increase of 1.14% over the next 10 years, and an abundance of renters, students, and entrepreneurs.
Those figures helped Manchester increase its ranking from the H2 2023 report, where it ranked fourth.
“Manchester has gone through a significant transformation including redevelopment in recent years across the housing tenure mix, so it’s only natural that it would rank highly in our analysis,” said Colliers’ head of UK residential, Andrew White.
He pointed out that several large companies have made their way to the city, including JP Morgan, Octopus Energy, and Rolls Royce. This has led for a need for more homes.
Local government has also made an impact in the city, with White noting: “The local authority has also been very active in welcoming developers to make changes in the city through regeneration projects such as NOMA as well as build-to-rent and single-family housing developments in the city’s suburbs, so it’s not surprising at all to see Manchester rank as our highest English city for residential investment.”
White added: “Furthermore, Manchester’s economic and residential growth highlights the need for strategic expansion to meet housing demand. Angela Rayner’s recent announcement regarding the government’s new housebuilding plans is an important step in this direction to addressing housing shortages. As Manchester continues to attract residential investment and experience population growth, the availability of Grey Belt land for development will support sustainable urban expansion.”
Here is the top 10 residential investment cities in the UK, according to Colliers:
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Manchester
- London
- Oxford
- Milton Keynes
- Belfast
- Cambridge
- Leeds
- Cardiff