Website design By BotEap.comChannel 4 published its latest ranking tables of the best and worst places to live in Britain a few weeks ago, using measures such as life expectancy, school exam results, number of shops, crime levels, bars and restaurants and air quality.

Website design By BotEap.comSix of the top 20 were in Surrey, although the first was Edinburgh. Among the bottom 20, Nottingham was very high due to crime levels, with areas such as Hull, Islington in London and Middlesbrough being number one.

Website design By BotEap.comIs this a useful guide for investors?

Website design By BotEap.comWell, it’s useful to see, but the most powerful thing to see consistently in a lot of the worst areas was consistently low house prices, which had started to go way up, and huge amounts of regeneration coming into the areas. In Middlesbrough alone they are investing millions through the Tees Valley regeneration project.

Website design By BotEap.comClearly, as investors, this is a good time to buy a housing market, meaning when it is relatively close to the beginning of the cycle, with momentum building and regeneration – these are key indicators to look for in any housing market.

Website design By BotEap.comI have spoken to a number of investors who said they were pleased to see the level of regeneration taking place, Grimsby for example, and the affordable levels of houses, which supported our thinking and research.

Website design By BotEap.comRemember that the choices of where to live and where to invest are not related; in fact, I know a couple of investors who live in Surrey and have large portfolios in Hull, and investors who live in Belfast, Edinburgh and Winchester, who have their main portfolios in Co. Durham, Grimsby and Eastern Europe.

Website design By BotEap.comEveryone has been very clear about what they are looking for when choosing a place to live, and a place to invest!

Website design By BotEap.comThe most common mistake new investors make is to mix the two, and choose an investment based on where they would like to live, and choose, for example, a “lifestyle” option in an exotic, sunny location that will never make them happy. make money, and they will not earn. not even being able to go on holiday there as they can’t afford to break even and go on holiday, or a fancy new build apartment and spending thousands on furniture like they could imagine living there when they were younger!
It seems incredible, but too many people do it.

Website design By BotEap.comA good investment has nothing to do with discounts, free carpets, or a free pool, and everything to do with the basic economics of supply and demand, local affordability, and economic changes, for example, salary increases/decreases, changes in taxes and changes in lending criteria.

Website design By BotEap.comAlways keep these thoughts and strategies completely separate, ie where you would like to live and where is a good investment.