Why Invest in Birmingham?
In addition to sourcing properties in Manchester for our Hong Kong clients, Property Fit is seeing demand for the UK’s other major city, Birmingham, growing rapidly.
What is driving the demand for property in the UK from Hong Kong buyers? While Hong Kong investors have traditionally been interested in any type of regional real estate the boom in demand from Hong Kong buyers was further prompted in July 2020 when the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, announced a new visa for Kong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens who are ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and their immediate family members to work & study in the UK.
The new Hong Kong BN(O) Visa is a significant change to the UK immigration system and now allows BN(O) citizens to apply for two periods of 30 months leave or 5 years leave. This new immigration route will afford BN(O) citizens the right to live and work or study in the UK and gives them a path to full British citizenship.
In addition to providing a pathway for BN(O)s, this route will also enable those born after 1 July 1997 to a British National (Overseas) registered parent to apply to come to the UK.
What is driving the interest in Birmingham property?
Being the second most populated city in the UK and only 127 miles from London; Birmingham is attractive for living and working. In addition to this, Birmingham and the West Midlands have a thriving economy dominated by the service sector. There are 44,000 businesses contributing £114Bn per year. Birmingham will also feature two HS2 (High-Speed Rail) stations which will reduce the travel time to London from 1 hour 21 minutes to under an hour at 49 minutes. HS2 is forecast to be open before 2033 and will make London commutable from Birmingham. Travel times to Manchester from Birmingham will also be cut to under an hour.
Birmingham also has large inward investment plans with the centre-piece being the ‘Big City Plan’. This is an investment of £10Bn over the next 10 years and will create 50,000 new jobs. Other notable mentions for Birmingham include; the fourth most visited area for tourism in the UK; hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games; expansion of the Metro to the Airport and a £500M expansion to Birmingham airport. All of these factors contribute to a thriving economy and an exciting place to live and work. Demand for rental houses and house price growth will continue to increase by 5% – 10% a year. These are all factors that will interest property investors in Birmingham.
Property Fit are pleased to be helping our Hong Kong clients to locate and source their property in Manchester or Birmingham. We conduct viewings on behalf of our clients, manage the negotiations, oversee the buying process, manage any repairs and oversee the lettings. We cannot give any financial advice as we are not qualified to do so but can introduce any type of financial advisor needed such as a mortgage broker, insurance agent or accountant. The majority of clients at the time of writing for Property Fit are from Hong Kong. We are used to working with remote clients in Hong Kong and understanding the needs of our clients. We pride ourselves on our communication.
If you are a Hong Kong resident and are looking to buy investment property in Birmingham or the North West please contact us either through the website contact page or you can call us on 0044 333 358 0669 or email info@property-fit.com . We use WhatsApp and Zoom.