Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa July 2018

North- shoring UNITED KINGDOM The UK’s new offshoring is creating a huge opportunity UNITED KINGDOM UK’S BIG MOVERS TO THE NORTH BBC & ITV relocated to Media City in Manchester Burberry Fashion brand recently moved 300 jobs to Leeds, saving them £100m KPMG, Freshfields and DLA Piper, Ernst & Young, and PWC all based in Manchester Deutsche Bank & HSBC are setting up in Birmingham Royal Bank of Scotland, New York Mellon and Barclays are now in Manchester Global co-working specialist WeWork, committed to taking further space in Manchester the ‘Northern Powerhouse’. Its mission? To boost the local economy by investing in skills, innovation, transport and culture, as well as devolving significant powers and budgets to directly elected mayors to en- sure decisions in the North are made by the North. Investment upwards of £13 billion is being implemented in transport, redevelopment and education. The benefits to investing in proper- ty there are obvious. The entire area of Northern Powerhouse covers many cit- ies in the North, with Manchester as its central hub. We have all heard about the success of Manchester’s property market, which has been dubbed the best city for property investment for the next decade. Substantial growth is already visible, with yields averaging 6%, and an impressive oc- cupancy rate of 96%. This is having a wider positive impact on the real estate market across the North. Liverpool has become the more afford- able alternative to Manchester, building new hospitals and businesses and an ev- HURST & WILLS TOP 5 CITIES TO INVEST TO BENEFIT FROM NORTH-SHORING Manchester - Already the hub, Manchester has seen the most impact of North- shoring so far, and property prices are expected to grow further by 28% by 2021. The High speed rail will get commut- ers to London in an hour, which we think will be a game-changer. Liverpool - Recently announced as best Buy To Let city in the UK, Liverpool produces yields of up to 8% NET. Tourism & student property does very well here, and the new royal hospital will provide a further tenant base for the City. ‘O LISA BATHURST Lisa Bathurst is the founder of Hurst & Wills, a boutique inter- national real estate advisory based in Cape Town 44 ffshoring’ has been a buzz word here in SA for some time, with many South African investors keeping up to 60% of their wealth off- shore, purchasing property offshore and increasingly moving their businesses and structures offshore too. But in the UK, North-shoring has replaced offshoring and this means great opportunities for South Africans investing in its property market. For the last decade, companies in Lon- don moved overseas to manage escalating running costs. Nowadays, they would rather keep their business in the UK - made possible by heading to the North, which not only cuts their running costs by almost half but also means they can con- tinue to do business, live and work within a trusted stable environment and not have to deal with language or cultural barriers. JULY/AUGUST 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine Birmingham - Deutsche bank and HSBC are setting In doing so, companies in the North increasingly need commercial space and their ever-expanding workforce need somewhere to live. As more established businesses have chosen to pinpoint The North as a hub, it has in turn attracted forward-thinking, modern businesses to follow suit and more efforts have been introduced to retain what is the largest student population on the continent – Manchester retains 70% of its students post-grad and the plan is to turn these sharp new minds into the lead- ers of tomorrow. Right now, business is booming Up North, and the economy is growing rapid- ly. Financial, creative, digital, research and development sectors are heading there in droves, and Manchester now boasts the presence of 80% of FTSE 100 companies. The government’s initiative is known as er-growing tourism sector. With more redevelopment planned, and initiatives to attract international and local learners, other student cities such as Leeds, Not- tingham, Hull and Newcastle now offer attractive investment potential through the Build-to-rent and student accommo- dation schemes. It is clear that the North of the UK is the place to be over the next few years. This government backed decentralisation, investment in infrastructure and a general undersupply of housing means that those savvy investors who ride this wave soon, can build a prosperous property portfolio at a snip of London prices. Hurst & Wills offer independent advice on investment property in the UK and have several options across the country from R1,2m, offering yields up to 8%. If you would like to hear more, do not hesitate to be in touch at hello@hur- standwills.com or visit the website www. hurstandwills.com. up here to benefit from the high speed rail and there’s already £1bn pledged to create additional neighbourhoods around the rail station. Newcastle - ‘The happiest city to live in the UK’, this city attracts students and tourists alike, whilst being one of the most affordable markets. Large businesses such as Hewlett-Packard and Sage have a big pres- ence here, attracting a highly-skilled workforce. Leeds - A recent report by JLL picked Leeds as the standout market to watch for rental gr

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