For property investors and developers looking for the next area ripe for regeneration, the north and Midlands are the first port of call.
Recent research ranks Birmingham as the council areas offering the highest amount of potential space for regeneration by investors. The city and surrounding suburbs currently have a total of almost 16,000 of empty buildings comprising 8,086 residential dwellings and 7,622 commercial properties.
UK fibre broadband specialist Glide has identified a total of 617,527 empty residential and commercial buildings during September alone across the UK.
Northern Powerhouse
The north is ahead of the rest of the UK, claiming five of the top councils where investors could find opportunities to reinvent empty space.
Liverpool is in second place after Birmingham with 15,339 empty buildings, followed by Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.
UK has nearly half a million empty properties
The top five cities all located in the north account for 10% of the total number of empty homes, which the study revealed to be 448,246 across the UK. Liverpool also has the highest number of empty residential properties, with 11,073 sitting unoccupied
Regions that have been hit most by economic and political uncertainty may now see investors looking to capitalise on regeneration schemes and mixed use development.
Glide’s research found that there are a total of 172,217 empty business units across the UK, which perhaps suggests a huge potential for investment. Bradford’s council area accounts for 4.5% of the total number of the UK’s unoccupied buildings. Birmingham has the second highest number of empty commercial properties (7,622), followed by Leeds (4,528) and Liverpool (4,266).
Jason Lloyd, head of residential at Glide said: “The research has revealed the high number of empty properties and businesses across the UK, particularly across some of the major northern Council areas.”
“But whilst it is troubling to see so much wasted residential and commercial space, it does represent a clear opportunity for developers, and hopefully this study will help prospective investors pinpoint where there is the most potential for growth.”
