Levelling up could boost UK housing market by £58.7bn – claim

The government’s ambitious plans to ‘level up’ in the UK could boost the value of the nation’s property market by a whopping £58.7 billion, according to research from developer StripeHomes.

In total, 96 areas the length and breadth of the UK have been earmarked for elaborate regeneration projects by the government.

StripeHomes analysed the current value of bricks and mortar across each of these 96 areas, the potential increase due to the benefit of this wider regeneration and what this equates to when taking the existing size of the property market into consideration. 

The research shows that the average homeowner in a level up area due to benefit from government regeneration plans could see the value of their home boosted by £8,022. StripeHomes estimates that this total benefit across all 96 areas could be as high as £58.7 billion based on the boost to house prices and the total number of homes that could benefit. 

Yorkshire and the Humber is the region set to enjoy the biggest uplift. Eight areas in the region have been earmarked by the government for levelling up and StripeHomes estimates that this regeneration could add over £9 billion in value to the regions property market. 

The East Midlands could also see a huge boost of almost £8.5 billion, followed by Scotland (£6.8 billion), the North West (£6.6 billion) and the West Midlands (£6.5 billion). 

In terms of the individual areas due to enjoy the biggest benefit, Derbyshire ranks top. StripeHomes estimates the regeneration of the area could bring about a boost of £7,709 to the average homeowner. With some 438,882 properties in the area, that’s an increase of almost £3.4 billion in property market value. 

Birmingham is also set to enjoy one of the largest uplifts in housing market value (£3.3 billion), along with Gloucestershire (£3.3 billion), Edinburgh (£2.8 billion) and Leeds (£2.8 billion).

James Forrester, managing director of StripeHomes, comments: “Any level of regeneration will always have a positive impact on the surrounding property market and on average, house prices tend to climb by around 3.6%.”

“While this may sound like a modest increase for the individual homeowner, it’s a pretty staggering boost to the market when you consider the overall impact.”

“Of course, we will need to see just what the government delivers on and where when it comes to their plans to level up the UK, but it’s safe to say that the areas that are due to benefit should see a healthy uplift in property market values.”