Home to 80s pop stars Duran Duran and the birthplace of the Mini Cooper, as well as the Aston Villa Football Club which many locals will remember from their time in the Premiership, Birmingham is also one of UK’s most vibrant cities, with its appeal attracting plenty of investors from within UK, as well as from Asia.
And since the turn of the millennium, Birmingham presents a very strong investment case, with the city having seen extensive investment and regeneration across the city from both public and private sectors.
The Axium
Big City, Big Plans
The Big City Plan, launched in 2010, will expand the city by 25%, deliver 3 million+ sq.ft of mixed use floor space, create 50,000+ new jobs, add 5,000+ new homes and contribute £2.1b to the local economy. It was also elected most investable city in the UK by PWC, with many global corporations and institutions relocating from London, such as HSBC, Deutsche Bank, KPMG and Zurich.
This has not only created new jobs but is also driving the demand for prime housing in the city centre, a challenge that the city council is now geared to address and that Top Capital Group is committed to contribute solving with The Axium, a 304-unit development in Central Birmingham.
Connectivity & Infrastructure
With two stations of the high-speed rail being planned for central Birmingham, the building of the train route is itself a vote of confidence from the central government for Birmingham.
The High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway in the United Kingdom aimed to be the new backbone of the national rail network, linking London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds and Manchester.
What this means for is the positioning of Birmingham as an economic powerhouse that is only 49 minutes away from London via the HS2.
With strong infrastructure, good business, a burgeoning population, and improved connectivity – Birmingham couldn’t have expected more in 2017, and the developments of last year have put it in good stead for continued success in 2018 and beyond.
Undiscovered Property Hotspot
As an established investment destination for overseas and Asian investors in particular, the UK is a resilient and transparent market, which has delivered consistently over the past decade.
Regional cities in the UK, led initially by Manchester, have shown particularly attractive yields at a much lower entry level compared to London, with early investors having made successful investment in these cities. Birmingham, as the second largest UK city, is still at the early stages of the property cycle and presents a tremendous potential for investors.
Birmingham’s residential property market shares the top spot for the strongest house price growth with Edinburgh, beating even Manchester and Liverpool, with a staggering 7.5% growth year-on-year according to Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index.
With new investments comes job creation, and with new jobs, come new residents. This means Birmingham needs to accommodate a much larger pool of households, especially in the city center. This is driving house prices up. This explains why home prices in Birmingham have seen a steady annual growth since mid-2015, and now, Knight Frank forecasts an acceleration with capital appreciation in the residential sector of nearly 30% over the 2017-2022 period.
Birmingham also rank on top of the charts in terms of rental yields, with average yields exceeding 6% in the city centre. Knight Frank predicts Birmingham will see a projected rental growth of 20% between 2017 and 2021. Birmingham is truly a top performer.
The Axium
At the heart of the exciting growth in Birmingham is The Axium, a magnificent development comprising 304 luxurious apartments, situated within the much sought-after location of Windmill Street, Central Birmingham. Sitting right in the middle of the city, and within walking distance from all major business, shopping and cultural centres, the project also offers superior specifications at very attractive price points.
It has also been designed with the investor in mind and every aspect of the project reflect our commitment to quality, mitigating unforeseen costs down the line, and maximizing yields by offering competitive prices, relatively low service charges and ground rent levels, while remaining as close as possible to large pool of tenants.
The new financial and business districts (e.g. Brindleyplace, Arena Central and The Axis) are all walking distance from The Axium and major universities are just a few metro stops away.
The Axium has been very well received in Asia, with a large part of the 101 units sold over the past 3 months bought by Asian buyers as they become aware of the more than favourable market trends and jumped on the opportunity to invest early in the bright future of Birmingham.
Birmingham as an investment destination is still relatively new to Asia. The competition is still relatively limited and very few projects have been promoted in Asia so far. There is, therefore, an element of novelty that triggered investors’ curiosity. The fact that Top Capital Group is an Asian-based developer with a track record in Birmingham reassures investors while The Axium speaks for itself Top Capital Group, an Asian-based international developer with a strong track record in Birmingham.
While the Singaporean and Malaysian property markets are now recovering, and with some investors cashed out of some of them, smart investors are now geared to build a stronger, more diversified, property portfolio overseas, and Birmingham, and in particular, The Axium ticks a lot of boxes as an obvious choice for a solid property investment right now.
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