Knight Knox Sheffield Guide

INVEST IN

SHEFFIELD

INTRODUCING

SHEFFIELD Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire known as the ‘Steel City’ due to its rich industrial heritage. It is one of the eight largest regional cities which make up the ‘Core Cities Group’ and it is the third largest English district by population.

There are more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens in the city, giving Sheffield the highest ratio of trees to people in Europe.

61% of the city is green space and a third of the city lies in the Peak District.

As the UK’s most centrally located city region and at the hub of key road and rail networks, Sheffield is an excellent place for business.

Approximately 2.1 million people currently live within an hour of the region, making it the UK’s third largest metropolitan region.

Sheffield

Sheffield offers employment opportunities in many sectors which include advanced manufacturing, media, business and technology. Home to world-leading businesses such as Boeing, Rolls Royce and Tata Steel, the city is a great place for graduates looking to start their career.

Population Sheffield Population: 575,400 Sheffield City Region: 1,819,500 Student Population: 58,725

The employment rate in the city stands at 69,1%, impressive considering the large student population. The overall city region has a slightly higher employment rate at 70.3%.

(Welcome to Sheffield)

University of Sheffield : 27,195 Sheffield Hallam University : 31,530

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Why invest in Sheffield?

“Made in Sheffield” is a world famous mark of quality and Sheffield is the only UK city with a trademarked name. The trademark covers everything from the cutlery and advanced metalworking the city is known for, to its most famous food product – Henderson’s Relish.

Americans in particular value the “Made in Sheffield” tag.

Sheffield is becoming one of the most exciting cities in the UK with the rental market growing at a rapid pace. High student retention rate and the growing number of people relocating to the city mean that the demand for rental property is high, pushing up house prices in the area.

Despite growing in popularity, property in Sheffield remains affordable and is creating plenty of interest amongst investors as well as tenants who are turning away from expensive cities such as London, Manchester and Leeds. The amount of investment being poured into the city is comparable to how the likes of how Manchester was only a few years ago, indicating that the future of Sheffield is very positive.

70,000

26.5%

Sheffield is set to create 70,000

of students stay in the

additional jobs by 2023

city after graduation

(Sheffield City Region)

(University of Sheffield)

Investment in the city Sheffield was voted the best city for ‘student experience’ by students in 2017 for the 9th year running

In 2016, one of China’s largest developers, Guodong Construction Group agreed to inject £1bn into Sheffield with the aim to “change the face of the city”. The deal between the developer and Sheffield City Council will take over 60 years and is hoped to create thousands of more jobs in the region.

(Times Higher Education)

Devolution – The devolution deal for Sheffield City Region has provided £1.3bn to be spent on the city’s infrastructure, housing, transport and other drivers of economic growth in the next 30 years.

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Infrastructure National rail – Sheffield is linked to the rest of the country via train. It takes two hours to get to London, one hour to reach Manchester, just under two hours to reach Liverpool, one hour to reach Leeds and two hours to reach Newcastle.

Supertram – The Supertram is Sheffield’s local light rail network which provides transport around the city and also to local destinations such as Rotherham. The Supertram also links six Park & Ride sites on the edge of the city which reduce inner city traffic considerably.

HS2 – Faster journeys to London, Birmingham and Leeds. Sheffield will benefit from being a major stop along the new route when it is finally built. Journeys to London will be 45 minutes shorter and journeys to Leeds will take 20 minutes.

In addition to this, commuter cycle connections will be introduced into local areas to ensure that people can access HS2 easily.

Transport for the North – As part of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, Sheffield will benefit from improved transport across the region. The current links between the core Northern cities are substandard, however there are now plans for proposed trans-Pennine links and the speculative idea to link the North East to the rest of the country more substantially than it currently is.

Retail Quarter – Sheffield is the last major city centre in the country without a significant retail centre (though the city does have the Meadowhall development on the outskirts). This is about to change with the completion of the £480m Retail quarter in 2019. The world-class quarter will be an excellent addition to the city centre offering large space for businesses.

HSBC has invested millions of pounds into this quarter and is the main tenant with a 15-year lease on a 140,000 sqft office. This indicates the confidence which the bank has in the city.

Olympic Legacy Park – As part of the Innovation District, the Olympic Legacy Park is a £55m investment which will cover 35 acres and be home to internationally recognised research in health and education. Once completed in 2017, it will provide a space for approximately 3,000 people to work, learn and research.

£3 billion By 2024, Sheffield’s target is to increase GVA value by £3bn (Sheffield City Region)

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Sheffield aims to grow its business base by adding 6,000 to the city in the 10-year strategic economic plan.

(Welcome to Sheffield)

Employment Investment in the city and people’s skills from local business keeps the employment market strong.

The city’s steel industry has survived in the face of globalisation by specialising rather than continuing mass production. In addition, focus has been turned to research and innovation across a variety of fields.

Investment in quality over quantity and a strong attitude towards helping themselves has kept the employment market in Sheffield consistently strong.

Foreign investors are keen to get involved with the high-quality Sheffield name, such as the American firm Ajax-Ceco which recently awarded a Sheffield steel firm a £1m contract over cheaper Korean opposition. Boeing has also selected Sheffield as the site of its first UK manufacturing plant.

£453.30 The average wage per week stands at £453.30 in the city and £450.00 in the wider region.

(The Star)

Housing The average price of a house in Sheffield is £187,311 as of August 2017, an increase of 20.4% over the last 5 years, according to Zoopla.

The City Region is aiming to provide around 7,000 – 10,000 homes every year to keep up with the

Average rent in the city is £729 PCM, roughly the same as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.

The market in Sheffield is certainly healthy and is projected to grow at a fast pace. The city is becoming more prosperous and the housing market is following suit. In many cases, people are bidding against each other like they did before the financial crash and houses are being sold for above the market rate.

Knight Frank Yorkshire attribute the current strength in the market to ‘Northern Powerhouse’ excitement.

In addition, the very strong student market and high rates of student retention following graduation ensure a healthy churn of renters in the city. Private student accommodation is a particularly healthy sector is Sheffield.

employment growth.

(Sheffield City Region)

On average house prices in Sheffield are increasing by 4% a year (Rightmove, 2017)

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Contact us Whether you are looking for a high-yielding investment property or would like to enquire about becoming part of our extensive Agents Network, please contact us to set up a meeting to further discuss your requirements and determine how Knight Knox can best help you.

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The content contained within is correct at the time of publishing (July 2017).