Wirral Property News
I was wondering what to write for my January property blog after the Christmas hype, thinking what would Wirral residents interested in property want to read about on these cold dark days, I wanted to cheer everyone up with some happy inspiring
news about the great Wirral area. I have to admit I struggled to find the inspiration, then it came to me after a meeting with an interesting investor in Birkenhead I found myself driving through Hamilton Square a place where I passed every day for a number of years whilst working in various jobs. I've always enjoyed the surroundings of the Famous Georgian Square but felt I wanted to know more about the history of how this delightful Wirral Landmark came to be.
Hamilton Square was designed by Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham and has the most Grade 1 Listed buildings outside London (after Trafalgar Square). It is named after the family of the wife of the Scottish ship builder William Laird whose maiden name was Hamilton. The town hall opened in 1887 and was designed by local architect Charles Ellison. Built from Scottish granite and sandstone from the local quarry at Storeton. The upper part of the clock tower was rebuilt in 1901 following a fire. Number 63 Hamilton Square was the former home of John Laird, Birkenhead's first member of parliament and is grade 1 listed along with 1-18, 35-50 and 58-62. (Wikipedia.org)
Hamilton Square has recently undergone several redevelopment schemes including a 4-million-pound train station revamp and through various other developers to improve the residential side of the square into luxury, high quality apartments and offices. The improvements have proved successful in bringing professional renters, investors and buyers to the area. Landlords can achieve rents of around £650 for a 2 bed 1st floor apartment and around £525-£550 for a 1 bed basement flat. If you look at surrounding areas that adds around a £200 per month premium on the achievable rent for similar size properties based purely on the location.
Wirral has become an interesting area to investors and visitors alike, there are other large developments in the pipeline including Wirral Waters described as "The largest and most exciting regeneration project in the UK" wirralwaters.co.uk. Wirral Waters has been proposed by the Peel group and is the sister programme of the Liverpool waters project. A large scale 4.5-billion-pound development project looking to transform over 500 acres of Birkenhead docklands. Peel purchased Cammell Laird shipyard in January 2007 to facilitate the development, Wirral Waters is considered to be one of the UK's biggest developments over the next decade. Wikipedia.org
Birkenhead also has further regeneration plans in place to greatly improve the Europa pools centre. Although Neptune's plans for a 30-Million-pound revamp of the centre have been scrapped , it seems there are "more ambitious" development opportunities on the table. Neptune who carried out the New Brighton Marine Point development are still in active discussions with the council in regards to the regeneration of Birkenhead. (wirralglobe.co.uk/news) Watch this space!
Artist impression
For the opportunity to purchase a lovely family home in the Birkenhead area please click the link below and I can support you through the whole process
http://baileyandstaples.co.uk/property.htm?id=22&propInd=S
Other Property News
It
seems 2017 is the year for 1st time buyers.
According to Rightmove there has been a steady start to 2017 with 0.4% (+£1,086) rise in the price of property coming to market, very similar to the 0.5% rise recorded in January 2016.
Encouraging early signs of home-mover activity, with visits to Rightmove since Boxing Day up by 5% even when compared to last year’s buy-to-let surge
Window of opportunity for first-time buyers this new year with more choice and negotiating power:
- Available stock for sale of two beds or fewer currently up 1.9% versus previous year
- Fewer buy-to-let investors to compete against and sellers more open to lower offers as sales agreed in this sector down 13.2% in December 2016 compared to previous year (Rightmove, house price index).
Rental News
In 2017 Rightmove forecasts asking rent rises of 4% outside London, driven by less availability of rental stock resulting in upwards price pressure for tenants.
With margins under pressure due to imminent tax changes, buy-to-let investors could look to towns in Merseyside and Lancashire which dominate the best yields currently on offer.
Upcoming Events
We are looking to start our very own Wirral property support group meet up every month for anyone and everyone who has an interest in property related issues on the Wirral. for more information please visit and join our new Facebook group:
Final Thought
If you have any interesting Wirral property stories or wish your property to be featured in the next edition of Wirral Property News please email me at info@baileyandstaples.co.uk or contact me directly on 0151 364 5652
