Manchester tipped as property investment hot spot

Manchester, known across the globe for having one of the world's most famous football clubs, has come a long way over the years and is now firmly one of England's biggest and most popular cities not just for football or leisure attractions, like The Trafford Centre, but for excellent property investment opportunities, it is claimed.

Currently, the Manchester metropolis is doing well on several fronts seeing an increase in turnover in retail businesses by 2.7% in the year up to March 2011 according to data from CityCo, in addition to the Civil Aviation Authority recently publishing new research showing a 12.8% increase in passenger numbers at Manchester Airport between February and March this year, a rise of 137,000 passengers, the highest monthly increase since May and June 2010.

Recently, the city of Manchester was dubbed a top spot for investment according to a report by Knight Frank suggesting that it is now one of the best cities with the strongest investment potential in the UK.

‘Demand for new properties in prime locations experiencing strong economic growth and increased job opportunities such as Manchester is on the up, seeing increased numbers of people buying properties in the city,’ said Alan Forsyth, director of property investment company Property Secrets.
 
‘This is an attractive alternative market to London with property almost half the price of London. Certainly, we believe our high yielding properties, including our student accommodation developments located in excellent rental areas in Manchester are head and shoulders above similar developments in any other major city and will produce healthy positive monthly incomes,’ he explained.

Experts also believe that Manchester's appeal as a first rate investment location is likely to be further enhanced when the BBC vacate their west London Television Centre in Wood Lane, with several thousand members of staff moving to its new BBC North headquarter in Salford.

The first wave of BBC journalists have already transferred to MediaCityUK, Salford Quays the new home for the BBC and ITV as well as others to meet the specific needs of the media and creative industries as well as public audiences seeing BBC Breakfast, Sport, Learning, Media, Technology and Radio 5 departments move north.

Forsyth believes that this is good news for Salford and Manchester as a whole seeing greater business opportunities and an increased number of people looking for rental property generating a new age of property prosperity in the region.

It recommends Empress Mill near the city centre with one, two and three bed duplex apartments based around the conversion of an existing mill building with a new build extension with prices starting at £65,000 for a one bedroom apartment with an estimated rental income potential of £500 per calendar month with a yield of around 10% gross.