Ipswich is the best value investment hotspot in England for budding property investors, say experts at The Property Investor Show (22-24 September, ExCel London).
Why? Because a flat there costs just £121,700, more than £10,000 less that the UK average of £132,700, and because there are major regeneration plans in the pipeline - in the docklands, 3,000 new apartments will be built over the next four years and there's a new University Campus opening in 2007.
More to the point, Ipswich's average price is below the stamp duty threshold of £125,000 - so you won't pay anything to Gordon Brown.
But while it's still affordable, it's also delivering good capital gains - already this year the average property price has increased by five per cent, outstripping the performance of its region, Suffolk, by three per cent. Prices are expected to rise by ten per cent this year.
Regeneration Game
Regeneration is the big plus that makes the towns in the top ten such a good bet. One of the biggest is the Thames Gateway, Kent, where there are plans to build 200,000 homes, create 150,000 jobs and improve transport links into London.
Small wonder, then, that two out of the top five emerging hotspots, Gillingham and Chatham, are in the Thames Gateway - if you want to read more about these areas check out our area guides to Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester.
Other affordable contenders include Peterborough, Middlesbrough, and Colchester (we also published a guide to Colchester recently), Plymouth, Hastings and Grimsby.
Excellent Prospects
Dutch Quarter, Colchester
Nick Clark, Managing Director of The Property Investor Show, comments:
"With prices soaring over recent years it is incredibly difficult for novice property investors to get started.
"However, there are many emerging areas that are still very affordable and benefit from extensive regeneration projects. These present excellent investment prospects.
"The identified investment hotspots offer investors and first-time buyers the opportunity to buy homes at some of the lowest prices in England and Wales and are also set to see some of the highest price rises in the next few years."
He might well be right, but do you agree? Are there any regeneration areas missing from the top ten that you think are a better bet (what about Bolton, Luton, Crawley and Milton Keynes)?
Or do you think buy-to-let is no longer the prospect it was and with interest rates rising and prices cooling it's going to be much tougher to do well. Let us know via the feedback form below and we'll publish your comments.
The top ten affordable hotspot areas in England ranked in order of predicted house price inflation this year, based on current performance.
© Find A Property 2000-2007
