South west London is most popular area for young professionals buying property, research shows
29-05-2012
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Indeed, London's SW post codes are home to 10 of the 20 areas that attract the most young urbanite professionals, according to the latest research from Lloyds TSB.
Wimbledon, Wandsworth and Battersea follow Fulham as the next most popular areas with young professionals. Other areas in the capital favoured by this group include Paddington, Putney, Canary Wharf, Hampstead and Kilburn.
Hove and central Brighton on the Sussex south coast are the only areas in the 20 most favoured places by young careerists outside London. Beyond London and the south east young professionals are flocking to south Manchester. Didsbury in south Manchester is the biggest hotspot for young professionals outside London and the south east.
Other regional hotspots for young professionals include Jesmond in Newcastle, Broomhill and Fulwood in Sheffield and West Bridgford in Nottingham.
Properties in the areas popular with young professionals typically come with a hefty price tag. For example, SW6 in Fulham has an average price of £782,588. The next most popular areas of Wimbledon (SW19) and Wandsworth (SW18) have average house prices of nearly £500,000.
As a result, young professionals would need to pay a premium of 40% to live in these desirable areas, compared with London as a whole.
In Didsbury young professionals pay an average premium of 56% compared with Manchester as a whole, £215,813 against £138,157.
The average house price in Jesmond is £227,533, a 39% premium compared with the whole of Newcastle. In Broomhill and Fulwood in Sheffield, there is a 35% premium compared with Sheffield. West Bridgford has an average premium of 55% compared with Nottingham as a whole.
‘The typical profile of young professionals is that they tend to have university qualifications, are in well paid occupations and like to take full advantage of living in or close to the city, either for work or leisure purposes. Our analysis certainly suggests this to be the case with Fulham as the leading hot spot for young aspiring urbanites,’ said Suren Thiru, housing economist at Lloyds TSB.
‘Outside London the areas most popular with this segment of the population also tend to fit the profile. In the majority of cases, young buyers have to pay a significant premium for a property to live in these areas compared with living in other parts of the city,’ Thiru added.
