Growth location focus: Birmingham
The UK’s population is booming and one result of this is a severe shortage of housing in many areas. Coupled with a shift away from home ownership and towards private renting, particularly in urban areas, this has created a number of key rental market growth locations. Birmingham is a prime example.
According to Surrenden Invest’s report on National Growth Locations, Birmingham’s ambitious, large-scale regeneration projects, such as the £1.5 billion Birmingham Smithfield redevelopment, are drawing renters to the city centre in their droves. Meanwhile, the city’s established economic credentials (centred around manufacturing, retail, tourism and financial services and, more recently, creative and digital/tech businesses) are creating plenty of employment opportunities.
The West Midlands as a whole has a bright outlook. Savills has projected compound growth of 19.3% over the five years to 2023 for the area’s house prices. Birmingham is the region’s shining star. In fact, it the city has outshone many other urban areas in the UK over the past few years, with prices there rising faster than in any other UK city since the UK’s EU referendum in 2016.
Birmingham’s population is growing hand in hand with its house prices. The city is known for its youthful population, with the Birmingham Economic Review 2017 naming it the youngest major city in Europe. Nearly 40% of the population are under the age of 25. There were some 1,147,300 residents in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics. That figure is set to rise to 1,313,300 by 2041 – growth of 14.5%.