Want to add value to your property? Be sure to keep a metro map handy!
- Proximity to tram stop increases home value by 4.6% (Nationwide)
- Manchester Metrolink area house sales up 15% in 2014 (JMW Solicitors)
- Contemporary apartments 150m from tram stop for just £127,000 (Property Frontiers)
It’s official – Manchester property owners are mad about the Metrolink. In fact, data from Nationwide has revealed that buyers in the city are prepared to pay 4.6% more on average for a home that is within 500 meters of a tram stop. This equates to a tram stop adding £8,300 to the value of a typical home.
Smart investments
The finding is great news for buy-to-let property investors savvy enough to do their homework on the location of the property that they are buying. Custom Quay, in the Salford Quays area of Greater Manchester, is a perfect example. The property is just 150 metres from the nearest tram stop, meaning that central Manchester is accessible in just 15 minutes. Such a quick connection adds instant appeal to a rental property, attracting commuters who want to live outside of the city centre but who need easy access to it for work.
Ray Withers, Chief Executive of leading property investment specialists Property Frontiers, comments,
“Having a Metrolink so close to a property is excellent news all round. For the investor, it makes their property a more valuable asset. It also means that demand from potential tenants is likely to be higher and that the property can command a higher yield as a result. It also makes properties easier to sell, should investors wish to do so.”
This is certainly the case in Manchester, where house sales in the Metrolink region rose by an average of 15% in 2014. In some regions, sales even doubled, according to law firm JMW Solicitors LLP. The company’s Andrew Garvie, head of Private Client, observes,
“It makes the home more attractive and easier to sell, coupled with sustainable house prices.”
Metrolink Madness
Metrolink, which in 2013/14 transported some 29.2 million passengers along its seven lines according to the Department for Transport, was the UK’s first modern, street-running rail system, having opened in 1992. Today, it is an essential component of Greater Manchester’s transportation network, with three new lines having opened in 2014. Councillor Andrew Fender, Chairman of the TfGM Committee, comments,
“With three new tram lines opening in 2014, Metrolink is now connecting more people with more places than ever before – making it easy to get to employment and leisure opportunities across Greater Manchester.
“Metrolink offers excellent, direct links to the city and further afield, making the areas it passes through popular with homebuyers.”
Many of those buyers are purchasing their property not to live in it but as an investment and the Metrolink effect is an important consideration for those who want to maximise profits, such as buyers at Custom Quay, where a selection of one and two bedroom duplex apartments are available from £127,000. With plans in place for a further line to be added by 2019, which would bring the Trafford Centre into the network, it looks like the Metrolink’s impact on everything from yields to property value is here to stay.
For further details, visit www.propertyfrontiers.com or call the team on +44 1865 202 700.