"Not only are prices significantly more affordable than the South, making it the more accessible market, but returns are also markedly stronger."
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 shows.
Sourced Franchise has analysed annual changes in house prices, rental values, and rental yields for all regions of England to see if the country’s North or South is putting in the strongest housing market performance.
Capital Appreciation
The data shows that England’s North is outperforming 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. This marks annual growth of 2.7%.
In the South, however, the average price has grown from £385,719 to £388,917; an annual change of just 0.8%.
In fact, the top four performing regions over the year have all been in the North. The North East leads the way with 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%.
Rental Values
The North-South divide is much more mixed when it comes to changing rent values over the past year.
In the North, the average rent value has increased by 8.7%, from £759 per month to £824.
Annual growth in the South has been even more impressive, with rent values rising 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%); a fairly even split in North and South performance.
Rental Yields
Despite the even split between North and South for rental values, when it comes to current average yields, the North once again leads the way.
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%).
Chris Kirkwood, director at Sourced Franchise, commented: “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.
"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.
"We fully expect this pattern of Northern dominance to continue into the foreseeable future.”
