Liverpool is the UK’s number one property hotspot with price growth of 14%, Liverpool apartments being +60% cheaper in £ per sq ft than their counterparts in London; with £1.5 million allowing a buyer to purchase one apartment in Prime Central London, two in London’s Docklands or five/six apartments in Liverpool. These are the key findings of Liverpool: A Northern Powerhouse, Dockside Regeneration Property Report, a new property market research report commissioned by London’s Beauchamp Estates Liverpool’s Logic Estates, with analysis by Dataloft.

The new report found that Liverpool, the UK’s fifth largest Metropolitan city located on the Mersey estuary in north west England, has experienced record price growth of 14%, outperforming Leeds (7.4%), Birmingham (7.0%), Manchester (6.7%) and London (5.1%).

The report found that properties sold in Liverpool average £237 per sqft (and average £280 per sqft for premium new homes; the top 25% £psf by value), with the homes being an average of 679 sqft in size (or 775 sqft in size for a premium unit). The Liverpool data can be compared to equivalent figures of £678 per sqft for London (£802 psf for premium units) at an average size of 668 sqft (or 775 sqft in size for a premium unit); £353 per sqft in Manchester (£399 psf for premium units) at 664 sqft or 753 sqft in size and £300 per sqft in Birmingham (£351 psf for premium units) at 632 sqft or 742 sqft in size.

The price comparisons also underline Liverpool’s advantage for investors: a budget of £1.5 million to invest in UK residential property can typically purchase one apartment in Prime Central London, two in London’s Docklands or five or six apartments in Liverpool, with the benefit that the units in Liverpool offer better value in terms of £psf, are larger in size than equivalent properties in London and have excellent rental yield.

The performance of Liverpool’s residential property market boasts impressive growth figures not only for the past year (14%) but also over 5 years (40%) and 10 years (51.8%). Liverpool has previously not experienced such substantial growth compared to other high performing cities, suggesting that growth is increasingly gaining momentum, and that both prices and rate of rise will continue.

When comparing data for Liverpool to the key conurbations of Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London the city showed the highest growth of all locations for 1 and 5 years, yet was the lowest over 10 years: over this period London and Manchester have recorded the highest growth at 78.6% and 79.6% respectively, compared to 60.4% for Birmingham, 57.9% for Leeds and 51% for Liverpool. These varying rates of growth over a ten year period give a strong indication of the stage at which each location is in the evolutionary cycle of a city, with Liverpool currently very much in a growth phase, particularly in prime areas.

The report reveals that Liverpool’s appeal is not confined solely to market growth, but also value for money, particularly in prime and waterfront homes, and space. Waterfront/waterside homes in most locations come at a price premium above the market average and Liverpool is no exception. However, its premium waterside homes are some 65% less per square foot than comparable London homes and 30% less than Manchester, with premium waterside apartments in Liverpool (those in the top 25% of sales £/sq ft) comparable in price to an average apartment in Manchester and Birmingham and at only a slight premium to Leeds.

Size matters: increased time spent at home over the past two years and changing patterns of work have seen buyers place a greater importance on internal space and a premium on properties that can offer volume in excess of what is generally available in the market. Homes at Tobacco Warehouse, Liverpool’s largest listed building in Stanley Dock, fall firmly into this category, as the natural boundaries and architectural barriers afforded by the historic structure have resulted in apartments that are considerably larger than even the upper average of comparable homes, with some the size of a three-bedroom house.

The average two-bedroom apartment is approximately 660 sq ft (61.3 sq m), an 800 sq ft (74.3 sq m) two-bedroom apartment is held to be good and one of 900 sq ft (83.6 sq m) considered large. In contrast, the apartments at Tobacco Warehouse are generally 1,309 sq ft (121.6 sq m) or larger, with the majority in a duplex configuration (split over two floors), with double height reception spaces. Homes at Tobacco Warehouse are on average 68% larger than comparable premium Liverpool waterfront home, 98% larger than the average two bedroom apartment and cost 65% less than an average London waterside home.

Liverpool waterfront property has outperformed the wider Liverpool market for rentals since 2017, when the regeneration of the city centre and waterfront gathered momentum. Rental yields in Liverpool (average 6.4%) are currently comparable to other regional cities: almost on par with Leeds, slightly above Manchester and Birmingham, and considerably higher than London.

Liverpool yields are 6% for a 1 bed and 6.5% for a 2 bed apartment; compared to equivalent figures of 4.5% (1 bed) and 4.5% (2 bed) for London; 6.3% (1 bed) and 5% (2 bed) for Manchester and 5.4% (1 bed) and 5.2% (2 bed) for Birmingham. Liverpool residential property has outperformed the UK, London and North West regional averages for the past year and five years: Liverpool 14.0% (1 year) and 40.1% (5 years); UK 10.0% & 25.8%; London 5.1% & 10.4%; and North West 10.8% & 32.1%.

The survey looked at the example of Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock where there will be 550 one, two and three bedroom Manhattan loft style apartments priced from £235,000. The development is currently under construction with 190 apartments build complete in Phase One, of which over 100 new homes inside the Grade II listed former Victorian warehouse are now sold, with only approximately 50 remaining.

Liverpool is currently enjoying a £14bn regeneration boom, of which Liverpool Docks is an important feature, both economically and socially. The impact of the regeneration of the docks will be substantial: Margaret Thatcher’s government set up two Development Corporations in 1981 of which one was the Merseyside Development Corporation, to address the regeneration of the Mersey Docks and the other, London Docklands Development Corporation to address London’s Dockland, now the financial centre and residential area known as Canary Wharf.

The redevelopment of Liverpool Docks will redefine waterside living in Liverpool and the city itself. The 30-year vision, started in 2018, is already transforming the city’s northern docks, into a highly desirable, vibrant, world-class, mixed-use waterfront, location, that accommodates the Titanic Hotel (opened 2014), Bramley Moore Stadium (Everton FC’s new home opening in 2023) and the new ferry terminal. Other key development projects in Liverpool include the redevelopment of the Ten Streets into the city’s creative quarter and the proposed new Central Park. Key regeneration hubs in the city include The Stanley Dock Complex, Liverpool Waters, The Ten Streets and Bramley Moore Dock.
Paul Finch, Head of New Homes at Beauchamp Estates, said, “The city-wide investment, both in regeneration and infrastructure, is driving economic growth, with the waterside activity creating a highly desirable residential and leisure destination. Our latest report reveals the momentum that the residential property market is gaining and the city’s top performance, particularly in prime waterside. The success of Tobacco Warehouse, which is more than 50% sold in phase one, shows clearly the appetite for and appeal of premium homes in a waterside location, both within the local and wider market. Projects like that at Bramley Moore Dock and the Ten Streets move forward and further phases of Stanley Dock complete interest and demand will rise further.”

Nick Goldsworthy, Co-owner of Logic Estate Agents said, “The city’s rich past, architectural legacies and maritime history all combine to create a unique and vibrant city, which is returning to form. The creation of homes like those at Tobacco Warehouse in Stanley Dock have been a game changer in the local market, offering homes of a size that are rarely available, in a completely unique setting, close to the city centre. Buyers and tenants are excited to be part of the regeneration of such a unique location and to be living in what is rapidly becoming one of Liverpool’s most desirable locations.”

Over the past five years Liverpool has seen a 44% increase in its population aged 19-30 (some 30,000 per annum moving to the city), compared to 42% rise for Manchester, 19% for Birmingham and a -7% outgoing figure for London. The University of Liverpool is a UK top 40 university and the city is a leading UK hub for computer science research and IT innovation firms.

With Liverpool named one of the top five most improved/best performing economic partnerships across the UK (UKCI, 2021) and currently the UK’s top area for start-ups, scale ups and ‘Unicorns’ (new businesses that are valued at more than $1 billion and are privately owned), the city’s growth and popularity is set to continue.