Belgrave & Rushey Mead, Leicester: Property Insight
Belgrave has seen a lot of activity this year; it is home to a lot of terraced houses, all of the streets off Melton Road, the main road that spans the stretch of Belgrave also known as the Golden Mile, host terraced houses and corner shops. There are some semi-detached homes off Harrison Road, Loughborough Road and near Rushey Mead Academy, there are also blocks of flats in the Rushey Mead area (as well as terraced and semi-detached houses) over the road from Soar Valley Community College.
Discussing with local businesses in the same field, we’ve found that the majority of individuals and families purchasing terraced houses in the area are first-time buyers which isn’t a surprise as Belgrave is exceptionally family friendly; there are several highly rated primary schools, two excellent secondary schools and Leicester College, who achieved the Teaching Excellence Framework GOLD award in partnership with De Montfort University and rated as OUTSTANDING by Ofsted is just up the road on Belgrave Road. Again, there are several events throughout the year where the community can come together, socialise and make friends. There are also multiple discount stores, doctors surgeries, pharmacies, betting shops, dentists, takeaways, supermarkets, shops and restaurants within the local area and the most popular feature for working professionals is the well-managed, frequent public transport links into the city centre and other parts of Leicester. You can get a bus from Melton Road to the train station, a train to Syston and the bus back to Melton Road without having to walk more than a quarter of a mile (depending on where your house is in relation to the bus stops on Melton Road) – of course, it would be a rather pointless journey but it is interesting to know and a great way to understand how well connected Melton Road is with the rest of Leicester and the country.
Moving on to property values, it goes without saying that the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is having an impact on the confidence of homeowners, buyers, sellers and tenants. We have seen in the national newspapers that house prices are falling in London and arguably throughout the country however, Leicester’s property values are still increasing healthily; an example is local terraced houses who have seen an increase in their value of between 15% and 18% in the last 12-18months. It isn’t uncommon for a 3-bed terraced house to achieve a sale price of ￡195’000 in Belgrave with the average 2 bed selling for ￡160’000. Since 2014, the area has boasted an increase of property values between 30-40% is unsurprising when considering the increased demand in properties both for rent and for sale (though sales are declining) and a limited supply of new homes.
The good news is, for home-buyers in Belgrave, lenders are more willing to lend to those living in exclusively residential properties on quiet streets; Belgrave and Rushey Mead are very low crime areas compared to the rest of Leicester and the streets coming off Melton Road are under a one-way system, this steady, single directional flow of traffic ensures peace and quiet and the safety provided by being part of a real community, this means that, although the supply of new homes is low, the likelihood of you buying a home in the area is somewhat higher than if you were to purchase a property in a high-crime area of the city.
To conclude, Leicester has seen remarkable growth in house values over the last few years, Leicester is outweighing the rest of the midlands in terms of property values and this pays tribute to how much Leicester has to offer; Leicester is going through a massive regeneration phase at the moment too, so we expect property prices to continue to rise over the next few years.