On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak delivered his first budget speech, updating Parliament on the state of the UK’s economy and the government spending plans for the next year.

This budget was the first opportunity for Rishi Sunak, who took over the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer four weeks ago, to outline spending plans and priorities. Whilst the budget was originally planned for November 2019, it had to be postponed due to the General Election in December last year.

So, how will Budget 2020 impact the property market? Sunak confirmed plans to increase stamp duty land tax (SDLT) to 2% for non-resident buyers of property in the UK. Whilst this isn’t great news for overseas investors, the surcharge won’t go into effect until April 2021, so if you’re considering investing in UK property – now is the time.

Another factor working in an overseas investors favour is the value of the pound. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016 the pound has fluctuated and hasn’t yet fully recovered its losses against major currencies.

A weaker pound coupled with the upcoming increase in stamp duty land tax, makes for a convincing argument for overseas buyers to invest in UK property sooner rather than later.

Why choose Manchester over London for buy to let property investment

The main argument for choosing Manchester over London comes down to price. The average cost of a house or apartment in Manchester is £173,400, 176% lower than the average house price of £479,000 in London. In addition to lower house prices, rental yields in Manchester are 67% higher than yield in London, again making Manchester a more lucrative option for investors than London.

Manchester city centre has undergone a vast transformation in recent years and low residential stock levels coupled with high rental demand has made Manchester an incredibly desirable place for property investment.

Property prices in Manchester have continued to rise and this is down to vast growth in commercial and residential investments. We recently wrote about how Amazon picked Manchester over London for its new northern headquarters, following in the footsteps of the BBC, which in the last ten years has created or relocated thousands of jobs into Salford, Manchester.

Beech Holdings have a number of buy to let investments available in Manchester city centre. One of these investment opportunities is located in the much sought-after Ancoats area. Ancoats Gardens is a luxury residential development with two roof gardens, 155 high-spec apartments, an exclusive on-site gym, coffee roastery and shared social space for tenants.

If you want to find out more about investing in a buy to let property in Manchester, contact us today to discover our latest opportunities