5 reasons to invest in property in Newcastle
Newcastle. One of the UK’s major cities. A core city, essential to the success of the Northern Powerhouse. It’s a city positioned for 21st century success, with incredible retail and education supporting a vibrant and growing local economy. It’s a highly-connected city, with top-class healthcare and a world-class nightlife. It offers everything a property investor should be searching for. And it’s highly affordable.
Here are five reasons you should now consider investing in property in Newcastle, the North East’s regional capital.
1. Retail and recreation
Newcastle is a mecca for retail therapy. The intu Metrocentre offers more than 300 shops, restaurants and bars just a short distance from the city centre. And in the city centre, you’ll find an eclectic mix of boutique fashion stores, galleries, high street brands and farmers markets.
In addition to its world-class nightlife of pubs, clubs, theatres, restaurants, Newcastle and the surrounding areas offers something to suit all tastes:
- Castles, coastlines, and country parks
- A Premiership football team (one of the best-supported clubs in the country), and other sports facilities ranging from basketball to horseracing
- Activities for adrenaline junkies to relaxed walks in the spectacular countryside, with a welcome break in a traditional country pub
2. Excellent education
The Newcastle region is home to five universities. The city has been named the UK’s Best University City for three years running (MSN Travel). Three of these universities are named in the QS World University Rankings 2018: Durham University, Newcastle University, and Northumbria University.
Within an hour’s drive of the city, there are 20 fantastic education colleges offering a variety of specialisations.
Among Newcastle’s state and private schools are several ranked in the UK’s top 100.
3. Incredible transport links
Newcastle is incredibly well-connected, by road, rail, air and sea. A 2016 Legatum Institute report named Newcastle as the country’s best-connected city. It’s not hard to see why:
- High-speed trains whisk passengers to London in around two and a half hours
- Rail links connect to all the UK’s major cities
- Newcastle airport connects to more than 80 destinations around the world
- There are daily passenger ferries and freight services to Amsterdam from Newcastle International Ferry Port
- The road network connects Newcastle to the rest of the UK
4. A thriving economy
Newcastle has a long history as an industrial centre but is evolving rapidly into one of the UK’s major digital hubs, with an economy driven by innovation. There are now almost 3,000 businesses in the tech sector here, employing around 30,000 people. The sector here is forecast to grow by nearly a third in the next three years.
Companies locating here are attracted by a diverse and well-educated workforce, the excellent connectivity, and a local authority that puts its money where its mouth is with investment into infrastructure for business.
Major companies here include The Go-Ahead Group, Bellway, The Sage Group, Virgin Money, and Northern Powergrid.
The economic sectors employing the highest numbers of workers are:
- Healthcare and social assistance (18.4% of the workforce)
- Education and training (10%)
- Retail (9.4%)
- Accommodation and food services (8.6%)
- Construction (7.5%)
The healthcare sector in the North East is renowned for its clinical excellence. Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is among the top-performing in the UK.
5. Exceptional affordability for property investors
The cost of investing in residential property in Newcastle compares extremely favourably with the UK average, and the average rental yield is much higher:
- The average house price is £144,125 (co.uk) – approximately 36% below the UK average
- The average rent is £854 per month
- The average rental yield is 7.1% – compared to the UK average rental yield of 4.4% (Your Move, January 2018)
A low entry price, with a high rental yield, and all the property fundamentals essential to success firmly in place. Isn’t it time you expanded your property search to Newcastle?
Contact Gladfish on +44 207 923 6100. Book a property investment strategy session, and discover why investing in Newcastle’s property market could boost your investment returns.
Live with passion
Brett Alegre-Wood