The UK’s second city is topping every property price and rental growth forecast for the next five years. With projected house price growth of 4.9% per year and rental growth of 2.8%, JLL attributed Birmingham’s high performance to key factors such as the Commonwealth Games 2022 and High-Speed 2 (HS2), both of which have already created thousands of new jobs and increased Birmingham’s global profile.
Other factors are key infrastructure and regeneration projects across the city, including a GBP 50 million investment into Snow Hill station and the surrounding area to drive growth and preserve important assets.
But despite Birmingham’s exciting growth forecasts and growing reputation as an investment city, there is a comparatively low supply of high-quality purpose-built homes.
1. What are Birmingham’s tenants looking for?
With the youngest city population in Europe and a growing talent pool of high earners, Birmingham is an unmissable opportunity for Build to Rent developers, investors, and tenants. Our most recent blog took a deep dive into the city’s rental demographic and what they’re looking for in a home.
Here’s a re-cap:
- Access to outdoor space
- Prime central location
- Co-working space
- Premium amenities and facilities
- A pet-friendly home
2. What will Affinity Living bring to Birmingham?
Select Property Group’s premium residential brand, Affinity Living, is expanding to Birmingham following the incredible success of four Manchester developments.
Promising the brand’s standards of prime central location, luxury apartments and premium amenities, Affinity Living Lancaster Wharf will bring a new standard of city centre living to Birmingham – a city where a quarter of households rent their properties.
3. Prime city centre location.
With rental growth in Birmingham city centre 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels due to increased demand, location remains a key priority for tenants. Just a short walk to Birmingham New Street station and the Bullring shopping centre, Lancaster Wharf is in the heart of the city centre.
A five-minute walk from major business districts Colmore Row and Snow Hill, home to global headquarters of Goldman Sachs and HSBC Bank, Lancaster Wharf will be an attractive prospect for Birmingham’s growing talent pool of high earners – the target demographic of Affinity Living.
4. Premium amenities.
People are expecting more from the place they live and work than ever before. With most companies (43 out of 50 of the UK’s biggest employers) embracing a mix of home and office working, communal amenity space is increasingly important to renters.
Delivering on the demands of today’s rental market, Lancaster Wharf offers luxury co-working space, an on-site gymnasium, 24-7 concierge, a rooftop terrace, a waterfront garden courtyard, a TV area, and a resident lounge. All designed to encourage residents to see the building as an extension of their individual apartments, Affinity Living creates thriving communities.
5. Rooftop terrace and waterfront garden.
Pandemic-related restrictions saw renters in city centres confined to their apartments for months at a time – a situation significantly worse for those without access to outdoor space. Data from over 700,000 users of the rental app, Movebubble, revealed that interest in outdoor terraces increased by 204% in 2020 due to the pandemic.
With two outdoor areas – a rooftop terrace and a water-front garden – Lancaster Wharf ticks all the boxes of the modern renter. In a city with over 8,000 acres of parks and green space, a purpose-built development offering indoor/outdoor living will be an attractive option for Birmingham’s rental market.
6. Thriving resident communities.
The communities we build at Affinity Living are next to none. Each building is designed from the ground up with the lifestyle of the end user in mind. From the events we hold, to the spaces we design, to the people we employ, our goal is to create an environment for our residents to thrive. Watch our resident testimonial video to hear what our tenants think at Affinity Living Riverside, Manchester.
Investing in a residential brand with a strong sense of community will also directly benefit your returns. Studies show that 75% of tenants are more likely to renew their tenancy if they know one other person in their building. This number rises to 90% for those that know two other people. An established brand with a user-led approach, Affinity Living is an unmissable opportunity for investors and tenants.
7. Pet-friendly environment.
At Affinity Living, we welcome all pets and aim to know each one by name.
Pet ownership increased by 18% between 2019-2020 alone due to increased time spent at home during the pandemic. Despite almost half of UK households keeping a pet, a survey by SpareRoom found that 78% of renters had experienced difficulty finding a pet-friendly home.
As city-centre dogs and cats become more popular in the UK, pet-friendly homes are a key differentiator from competitors in the rental market. In fact, a 2020 report found that all 10 of the highest-rated Build to Rent developments were pet-friendly. Whilst historically, investors avoided allowing pets due to fears of property damage, residents with pets must sign a policy, agreeing they are responsible for any damage or inconvenience.
For more information about Affinity Living Lancaster Wharf or Birmingham’s property market, get in touch with one of our property consultants for a chat.
Take the 360 tour to see the latest renders of the development.