The Hardest Places to Find Accommodation in the UK
Published October 31, 2019
Whether you’re a homeowner looking to move home, or sell your existing property in order to change for something new, an investor looking to purchase a property in a healthy market, or simply just a tenant looking to find somewhere that’s right for you, it can be difficult trying to navigate the UK housing market, especially with the uncertainty and sluggishness resulting from the country’s political situation at the moment.
For a bit more information, here are some of the most difficult places to live in the UK, both in terms of finding a home, and finding one for the right price.
Demand outstripping supply
Currently in the UK, the most difficult area to find a home is in Brighton. A southern seaside city that’s been regarded as both one of the happiest and hippest places to live, it has a vibrant and diverse, accepting culture, and is popular among young people. Unfortunately, however, those wanting to live there might be a little hard-pressed to say the least, as it was estimated and revealed by the Mirror in 2016 that at the time, the rate of new homes being built was one for every 25.2 new people. Other cities in the UK that are deemed hard to find homes in include Luton, Leicester and Birmingham
Student Search
While perhaps not the most impossible feat in the housing world, Students moving to different parts of the country for university can have a pretty tough time finding accommodation that is right for them and that gives them the facilities and features they need to get studies done properly. Not only this, but as students continue to pivot away from traditional and perhaps ‘old-fashioned’ accommodation types, the demand for modern studios and apartments at the heart of their chosen areas surges too.
To try and cater for the growing demand in cities across the country, purpose-built student accommodation is in development constantly, slotting in conveniently with ease-of-access to the universities. RW Invest, for example, a property investment company located in Liverpool, offer buy-to-let studios and modern apartments with direct links to the nearby University of Liverpool and John Moores University.
For investors, these sorts of asset classes are great ones to go for, as they’re affordable and manageable, while offering a higher rental yield average than any other property type currently – meaning you’ll make more from tenants each month than you typically would with any other category of investment property.
Expensive rent
In some parts of the country, there is a disparity between the average salary and living wage, and the cost of finding reasonable accommodation. In London, for example, the big city draw is matched with big rental payments, and many young people looking to live and work in the city struggle to live there whatsoever. To put things into perspective, the BBC reported that the average person needed a salary of over £51,000 in order to afford to rent a one-bedroom London home, and the average wage of a young person /graduate is under £30,000.
For young people in their 20’s, it is often also completely unfeasible to rent and save for a deposit on a mortgage simultaneously, meaning that they have to either live with parents while preparing to get on the housing ladder, or move out and worry about it at a later date, perhaps when and if they are lucky enough to be earning a higher salary. This has become more common over the years, with home ownership declining and private renting on the increase, and it has also been said that the average tenant in the UK pays more than 30% of their income on rent, vs, people in 1980 that spent around 10%.
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