Although the scope and reach of the proposed high speed line from London has been steadily scaled back from the time when it was due to reach Manchester and Leeds, the UK’s second city is still due to see many benefits.
The most obvious of these will be the combination of a reduced travel time between London and Birmingham alongside greatly increased capacity. This may have a number of other knock-on effects, not least on the cost of property in the city.
The primary reason will be that there is already a shortage of property available – a nationwide issue, not just one in Brum – a certain driver behind rising property prices.
The line isn’t due to come into operation until 2029 at the very earliest, the workforce needed for such a major civil engineering project will need to find places to live in and around the city while construction is underway.
It’s estimated that the project has already generated 30,000 jobs and as work really gets underway in the Midlands the figure is set to rise.
Even in the shorter term, this is good news for sellers. It could be especially welcome for anyone who finds themselves in the position of having to make a probate house sale. Not only could it secure a better price for the property in question, whether selling directly or via an intermediary who buys for cash, it could provide speedier resolutions all round.
Looking further ahead, when the line is eventually up and running, it also promises to see a whole new influx of potential buyers with increasing property prices as a result.
Given the faster journey times to and from the capital, this could conceivably include a number of residents of the south where property prices are already far higher than in many other parts of the country. So much so, in fact, that even people with higher than average incomes still find themselves being unable to afford to buy.
One danger, however, might be an overheating of the property market in Birmingham. It has already seen average prices rise by over 70% in the last decade, fuelled in part by the arrival of major corporations in the city centre including Goldman Sachs and HSBC.
In addition, construction has already started on a major new hub for the BBC at The Tea Factory in Digbeth. Not only will this bring an influx of BBC staffers to the city, there are also certain to be other production companies who will follow.
Some projections also suggest that between 2023 and 2027 we could see the price of the average property rise by a further 19.2%.
The arrival of HS2, along with other factors, is almost certain to have a positive effect on property prices in Birmingham. For sellers this is going to be very welcome, for buyers perhaps less so. But that’s just the free market in action.
