·         Housebuilding needs to reach 2-3 times current supply rate (UK Parliament)

·         ‘Exciting new developments’ arising thanks to PDR changes (Properties of the World)

·         Battersea Police Station to become landmark new development (Properties of the World)

Permitted development rights are giving rise to a host of stylish and unique residential developments across the UK. If you like the idea of living or investing in an apartment housed in a magnificent former warehouse, brewery, factory or similar, your choice has never been greater.

England is facing a significant housing shortage. In relation to housing needs from 2015 to 2020, the UK Parliament website observes,

“Estimates put the need for additional housing in England at between 232,000 to 300,000 new units per year, a level not reached since the late 1970s and two to three times current supply.”

Permitted development rights (PDRs) where introduced in 2013 as a temporary measure, before being made permanent in October 2015. PDRs mean that developers don’t have to apply for full planning permission if they are converting industrial buildings into housing.

In early 2016, a PDR was extended permanently to cover the change of use of office accommodation to residential accommodation. In addition, a new PDR allowing buildings and land classed as light industrial use to be turned into residential accommodation was introduced, with a start date of 1 October 2017, for a period of three years.

The amended rights have allowed developers to look more creatively at disused buildings in cities that are crying out for more housing.

Jean Liggett, Founder and Managing Director of Properties of the World, comments,

“The impact of the revision of PDRs in England is already being felt. There are some really exciting new developments in the pipeline as a result. Developers are using their imaginations about how to transform some of the country’s beautiful but neglected buildings into stylish, modern apartments, breathing new life into them while preserving their original architectural appeal.”

Fox Street in Liverpool is one such example. The beautiful Victorian warehouse of the former Swainbanks Antique Furniture company, with its huge windows and traditional red brick is being transformed into the main part of Fox Street Village, with rental homes designed for use by trainee doctors and nurses and other undergraduate students at the new Royal University hospital next door. The original warehouse and a sympathetic modern extension will house 150 studio apartments, along with 80 en-suite bedrooms and two- to five-bedroom cluster apartments. A gym, yoga studios, communal lounges and a café will complete the development, which will celebrate Liverpool’s commercial heyday while catering perfectly for the city’s modern needs. Investment is available from £52,000.

At Barrel Yard in Manchester, it is the former Queens Brewery that is the inspiration behind the three- to four-bedroom townhouses and one- to three-bedroom apartments that are springing up. Just minutes from the city centre, the development mirrors the red brickwork of the adjacent brewery while incorporating pretty front and rear gardens and the convenience private parking, achieving a quaint, village-like community in the heart of Manchester. Prices start at £130,000.

Students and young professionals looking to rent stylish, well located accommodation are benefitting particularly from the impact of PDRs. In Bradford for example, the former Dye Works, right next to the university, is being reimagined as sleek, spacious studios for students. Investors can be part of the development from as little as £60,000, meaning that the refreshed PDRs are making for a more interesting investment prospect, as well as rejuvenating run-down former industrial sites. 

Over in London, it is The Metropolitan at Battersea that is causing a ripple of excitement. Set within a heritage building that was the former Battersea Police Station, The Metropolitan will be seamlessly connected by a glass atrium to a brand new building designed to complement the former station’s classic Edwardian style. The stylish, two-bedroom apartments with private balconies or patios will be focused around courtyard gardens in the heart of vibrant Battersea. Prices start from £740,000.

Properties of the World’s Jean Liggett concludes,

“It’s an exciting time to be a property investor in England. The scope of some of the new developments coming online is just fantastic and it’s testament to the PDRs that have been put in place that these new homes are springing up much faster now, in response to local need. There are going to be plenty more of this type of conversion over the coming years. The Metropolitan in Battersea will be one to watch out for in particular!”

For further details, visit www.propertiesoftheworld.co.uk, email info@propertiesoftheworld.co.uk or call the team on +44 (0)20 7624 5555.

• £1.9 billion invested into UK student accommodation (Jan – Aug 2016, Savills)
• UK “most in-demand destination for global cross-border institutional and private capital” (Savills)
• Student accommodation scene in Bradford offering an 8% NET returns (Properties of the World)

The latest Savills Spotlight on World Student Housing (2016/17) report has revealed that once again student accommodation is in a class of its own, no longer a “niche investment opportunity” but a global asset class.

Of the USD $8 billion invested globally in the first eight months of the year, over 30%, USD $2.5 billion (£1.9 billion) has been invested in UK student accommodation cementing the domestic student accommodation market’s maturity and attractiveness.

Indeed, it is not only domestic investors piling into the UK student accommodation market but overseas buyers also with Savills stating that the UK was “by far the most in-demand destination for global cross-border institutional and private capital.” Over the last 3 years alone, the UK sector has attracted a whopping USD $9 billion in inbound investment.

Jean Liggett, CEO of visionary property investment consultancy, Properties of the World, which has successfully sold countless student property investments across the UK, comments,

“The student accommodation market, especially in the UK, has truly come into its own in the last few years. Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) now houses just over 30% of full-time students in the UK, some half a million beds, but this is still not enough.

“Public institutions and the UK’s universities simply cannot meet the demand from today’s ever growing number of students for good quality housing and so it is left to operators in the private sector to build the beds which in turn offers opportunity for savvy private investors.”

And even Brexit uncertainty does not appear to be denting confidence in UK student accommodation. In fact, the fall of sterling has made studying in the UK cheaper for overseas students and buying PBSA more affordable for overseas investors.

Jean continues, “student accommodation is still seen as a stable income-producing asset and if anything, in the face of Brexit, it’s in a great position to benefit from a rise in investor appetites during times of economic and market uncertainty.”

But what and where should investors buy?

With 21^st century students demanding more for their money, Jean advises her clients to consider PBSA developments with additional facilities and on-site amenities. One such example is The Dye Works, located overlooking the University of Bradford campus.

Situated only a one-minute walk from the main Bradford University Campus, The Advanced Technology Centre and Bradford College’s David Hockney Campus, Dye Works is ideally located for discerning students. Centrally located in Bradford’s purpose built Learning Quarter, students will have direct access to the university campus as well as a variety of retail outlets and public transport links. Dye Works will also house a number of students from Bradford College, one of the largest colleges in the UK.

With the University of Bradford named in the top 200 of the world’s most international universities 2016, the city attracts students from across the globe with Dye Works catering for local and international students alike. The university projects a 30% increase in the number of students by 2024 making Dye Works a perfect opportunity for investment in an expanding sector.

All apartments are self-contained with spacious double beds, en-suite bathrooms, fully furnished kitchens and plenty of work and storage space. Other features include large communal spaces for students to socialise, table tennis, pool table, games consoles, televisions and Wi-Fi throughout.

This contemporary student accommodation scheme offers a highly competitive three year fixed annual income return of 8%, with a 6% coupon during the construction period. A limited number of self-contained stylish studios are available for investment for a pre-launch discount price of £55,000 with no stamp duty due.

Dye Works is the sister student accommodation to Campus House (overlooking Bradford University campus). Properties of the World sold over one third of the self-contained large studios at Campus House in 2014. It continues to achieve close to 100% occupancy, and is a favourite particularly amongst post-graduate and international students.

For more information, please visit http://propertiesoftheworld.co.uk/ or phone +44 (0)20 7624 5555

After spending 20 years in the media industry, you founded Properties of the World back in 2011. What made you swap journalism and advertising for bricks and mortar?

I enjoyed working in the media but felt it was time for a change. I’ve always loved architecture and buildings and can remember being in Venice with my family when I was 15 years old and finding I preferred looking at the buildings as opposed to the paintings! I wanted to take control and stop working for large organisations as well as have the freedom to set my own rules and raise the bar on what other property agents were doing.

What makes Properties of the World stand out from other investment agencies in the market?

At Properties of the World we ensure that we visit each of the developments we offer and share our experience of the visit. We avoid using CGI images and share real pictures of the properties and surrounding areas. Our team has years of combined experience in blue chip organisations – finance, insurance, recruitment, management consulting and the media – which truly sets us apart from the average agency. Most importantly our buyers say we have a highly personalised approach and feel we become friends with them over time.

Talk us through a typical day at your St John’s Wood HQ?

It’s a real team effort. We check our emails to ensure we are up to date with client enquiries, then the sales team meet to review where each of our clients are at. I regularly meet with Jade, our Marketing and Communications Manager to discuss media coverage, promotions, lead generation and online activities. I also speak to developers and prospective partners to ensure existing projects are on track as well as source fresh opportunities.

What has been your biggest challenge over the last 5 years in property?

My biggest challenge was deciding to employ staff. Until March 2014 I was doing everything myself and I wanted to ensure that I had enough revenue to pay an employee before I employed them. My mother wanted me to stop working 24/7 and offered to lend me some money to help pay an employee’s wages. Well it worked; within two weeks of my first employee Beverly being at the company, we made three sales and things took off from there.

Property has traditionally been a male dominated industry, how have you found being a woman in property?

I don’t think about myself as being a ‘woman in property’. I just happen to be a woman. Perhaps, this is a function of how I was raised by my parents who encouraged me to go for anything I wanted to. When I worked at EMAP in Peterborough on the motoring and motorcycling magazines, there were almost all men working there. I quickly got used to mucking around with the chaps and gender was never anything to go by when determining someone’s skills or capabilities.

Properties of the World offers a range of investment opportunities across the UK, what types of properties and locations would you recommend investors to consider in 2017?

In an uncertain climate following the UK’s Brexit decision I would recommend hotels and care homes. In times of economic and market uncertainty, these two property classes provide certainty and security for investors. To list just a few reasons why; these types of investments provide a fixed rate of return over 10 years, have a considerably higher yield than residential buy to lets of up to 10%, and incur no extra costs during ownership. Investing in a hotel room or care room will give the investor peace of mind as they are exempt from stamp duty and are fully managed which mitigates risk.

What opportunities have you invested in personally and why?

I invested in a hotel room at Llandudno Bay Hotel in Llandudno, a World Heritage seaside town in North Wales that attracts visitors all year around. The property was being converted into a four-star hotel of which there was a shortage and the returns were excellent at 10%. It was also fully managed with no extra costs incurred during ownership. To me, it was a no-brainer.

If you could give investors one piece of advice, what would it be?

To be open-minded about what they’d consider purchasing. Buyers tend to stick to one type of property purchase such as a residential buy-to-let, yet their investment objectives can be better met by buying into say, the commercial property sector.

Lastly, you are originally from across the Pond, what do you miss most about the USA?

I miss seeing my friends and family and just how friendly and open Americans are – you can make a friend in the time it’s taken to read this interview!

For more information, please visit http://propertiesoftheworld.co.uk/ or call +44 (0)20 7624 5555