Bristol city centre house prices increase by a fifth in five years
Bristol’s new build city centre house prices have increased an average of 20% over the past five years.
According to research from property services firm JLL’s ‘Big Six’ research, which tracks residential development activity, prices and rents across Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the city had the second strongest growth rate over the past five years of those analysed. For the past 12 months, meanwhile, city centre house prices, grew by 4%.
The end of Help to Buy, alongside rising mortgage rates, mean a proportion of prospective buyers have delayed their decision to purchase and remained in rented accommodation for longer.
This has added further pressure on an already squeezed rental market, resulting in rents rising an average of 15% in Bristol and 15.8% across the Big Six cities analysed.
Energy efficiency has emerged as a major driver of rentals in city centres as people look at ways to minimise their bills amid the increased cost of living. Since the start of 2021 18% of EPC certifications completed in Bristol were A or B rated, up from 13% a decade earlier.
JLL forecasts that sale prices of Bristol city centre homes will increase 17.2% over the next five years, while rents will increase by 18%.
Nicholas Rumble, director, residential development at JLL in Bristol, said: “Supply and demand remains a crucial issue in the Bristol market, as the number of people – particularly young professionals – grows, while development remains constrained. It’s not surprising, therefore, that new build house prices have continued to increase. And it’s understandable that we’ve seen a similar story in rental prices.
“Looking ahead, we anticipate that both rental and sales prices will continue to rise until we see a stronger pipeline of available properties coming to the market, with population levels in the city only expected to keep growing.”
Marcus Dixon, director of UK residential research at JLL, said: “City centres continue to show a post-pandemic renaissance – this isn’t just a bounce back but an illustration of their underlying strengths in providing education, jobs and comfortable housing for people from all backgrounds.
“As students and professionals increasingly flock back, we anticipate growth will continue. Investors will be hoping a broader economic recovery across the UK will be a boon to city centre property markets.”
