Released on: February 21, 2008, 11:24 am

Press Release Author: City living prospects \'still strong\'

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Of all the claims made about the state of the property
investment market, one of the most common is that the city living trend in regional
cities is grinding to a halt


Press Release Body: Of all the claims made about the state of the property
investment market, one of the most common is that the city living trend in regional
cities is grinding to a halt. While more and more apartments have been built in
cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds, these have now reached
the point of oversupply, it has frequently been claimed, with falling prices and
lack of demand cited as evidence.

Not so, developer Urban Splash believes. Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, the firm\'s
Yorkshire region managing director Simon Gawthorpe insisted that not only would the
property scene survive the credit crunch, but that its long-term prospects remained
strong.

He asked: \"Do people want to live in city centres? I think absolutely they do but
it\'s about having the right amenities and facilities to support that.\"

\"The reality is that it\'s going to be a hard six to nine months but the fundamentals
of residential property are still there and still strong. We\'re still not providing
the amount of residences across the whole board that we should do,\" he added.

As a result, he suggested, there was plenty of mileage in the market.

The point Mr Gawthorpe made about having the \"amenities and facilities\" to support
property in the city centres may, however, be a major deciding factor in the future
progress of this market. He noted with disappointment that the Park in the Heart
scheme, which would transform the area around the city hall in Bradford, had missed
out on National Lottery funding. \"You get the public realm right and it brings
people into the city centre,\" he stated.

Such issues may apply in an even wider sense to those locations adjacent to city
centres where more apartment building is going on. A notable example of this is east
Manchester, where districts such as Ancoats, New Islington and Sport City are seeing
extensive development for people who can consequently live close to their city
centre workplaces.

In these areas improvements in the local environment and facilities will also be
significant but in a different manner. While city centres making a transition from
being principally districts full of shops and offices to partially residential areas
need to introduce elements such as more grocery stores, local authority services and
medical practices, expansion of city living into the inner city brings the challenge
of combining the creation of attractive locations in which to situate such property
with the broader aim of regenerating run-down districts.

New East Manchester, the body behind the development of that part of the city, has
just announced the outcome of such a consultation, with the result that a number of
enhancements will be factored into the future plan. Many of these are as much for
the benefit of existing residents as new ones, under a holistic strategy which aims
to increase the population by nearly 40 per cent in the next decade and achieve
better educational and employment outcomes at the same time. Thus 50,000 new trees
and crime reduction will go hand in hand among the aims for the body. In short, the
idea will be that the poor will become much less poor and the wealthy will want to
live there.

Making urban locations into attractive environments for the future residents of
apartments built there is one factor which may help both the value of such property
and the demand for it, the latter being a key factor for any buy-to-let landlords
investing in it. But the ultimate proof is in the sales prices. The Liverpool Daily
Post reported a few Months ago that a flat bought for over £200,000 in 2004 had been
sold for just £101,000. Yet now, it reports, the first million pound properties in
the city centre had been bought, two penthouses each trading for £1.5 million.

With successes such as that, it appears demand for city living property is alive and
well.

In today\'s world Property investment is an excellent investment option especially
investment in UK

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