The property market in the North of England is outperforming the South for both capital appreciation and rental yields, new research from property investment platform Sourced Franchise reveals.
Sourced Franchise analysed annual changes in house prices, rental values, and rental yields for all regions of England to see whether the North or South is performing the strongest.
The data shows the North is faring better than the South when it comes to capital appreciation.
In the North, the average house price has increased from £205,875 in May 2022 to £211,392 in May 2023 – an annual growth of 2.7%.
In the South, however, the average price has grown from £385,719 to £388,917 – an annual increase of 0.8%.
According to Sourced Franchise’s research, the top four performing regions over the year have all been in the North.
The North East leads the way with annual growth of 4%, followed by the East Midlands (3.4%), North West (2.7%), and West Midlands (2.2%).
The best performing Southern region is the South East, with growth of 1.5% over the past 12 months.
The North-South divide is much more mixed when it comes to changing rent values over the past year.
In the last 12 months in the North, the average rent value has increased by 8.7% – from £759 per month to £824.
Meanwhile in the South, rent values have risen by 9.5%, from £1,255 per month to £1,374.
The strongest regional growth has been recorded in London (12.5%), followed by the West Midlands (10.8%), South East (9.7%), North West (9.5%), and East of England (8.9%).
Despite the even split between North and South for rental values, when it comes to current average yields, the North once again comes out on top according to the stats.
Across the North, the average yield is currently 4.7%, while the South stands at 4.2%.
On a region-by-region basis, the North dominates the South.
The strongest yields are found in North West (5.5%) and Yorkshire & Humber (4.9%). London boasts yields of 4.7%, as does the North East, followed by the West Midlands (4.4%).
Sourced Franchise director Chris Kirkwood says: “There has long been a disparity between England’s Northern and Southern housing markets.
“But historically, the common narrative has been a booming South and a struggling North.
“Our latest analysis proves that when it comes to property investment, it simply isn’t that black and white.
“The North is now outperforming the South on multiple fronts and is, in many ways, now the driving force of positive growth.
“For property investors, the North now offers much better opportunities.
“Not only are prices significantly more affordable than the South, making it the more accessible market, but returns are also markedly stronger.”
Kirkwood says much of this is being driven by a shift of national focus away from London and towards cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle.
“We’re seeing major businesses move north from the capital, including the likes of Channel 4 and the BBC, and we’re also seeing young families escape the claustrophobic prices in the South for the more accessible markets up North,” he says.
“We fully expect this pattern of Northern dominance to continue into the foreseeable future.”
England’s Northern regions are the North West, North East, West Midlands, East Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber.
The South is made up of the South East, South West, London and the East of England.
