From an Interesting History to Works of Art – Regenerated Toxteth is Now a Great Place to Invest
For many people, Liverpool’s Toxteth area is synonymous with the 1981 riots where a civil disturbance broke out between police and local youths. However, despite the negative image this portrayed, its repercussions only highlighted the greater need for social stability and increased investment across Liverpool’s inner-city areas.
What’s occurred since has been a vast improvement of Toxteth’s local economy and employment prospects, echoing that of Liverpool as a whole. Twelve months on from the Granby Four Streets regeneration, work is still ongoing to improve the lives of those who live there.
Today, Toxteth is a hotbed of investment, buoyed by relatively inexpensive housing and attractive rental yields. Its close proximity to the city centre, Baltic Triangle, and Liverpool’s universities has appealed to property developers from all over the country, meaning that regenerated Toxteth is now a great place to invest.
Cultural Ties
One prominent investment has materialised with the old Coleman’s Fireproof Depository on Park Road. The historic red-brick building is to be converted into luxury apartments and set for completion in Q2 2017.
Developers have been keen to modernise whilst retaining the building’s original Victorian features – a constant theme of various regeneration schemes across the city. This desire to preserve original architecture is largely because of Toxteth’s interesting social history and cultural roots.
For example, the creative development of Toxteth’s notable ‘Welsh Streets’ – where work to convert 35 properties into 25 energy efficient homes is underway – saw the 2015 Turner Prize awarded to a collective art group who redesigned homes in the Granby Four Streets neighbourhood. Many of those homes are now let or available to buy at under market value.
Buy-to-Let Opportunities
Toxteth comprises numerous terraced homes within a relatively small area. This provides many buying opportunities for investors, buoyed by a huge demand for accommodation when second year students leave their university halls.
Often moving out in large groups together, landlords capitalise on this by converting rooms to maximise rental income. With over 50,000 students in Liverpool, you’re guaranteed to have enquiries as soon as the property is placed on the market.
Many of Liverpool’s inner-city areas, such as Toxteth, lie within an exclusive band where house prices remain below the national average but are steadily increasing in value. With a strong rental market to boot, this produces attractive yields of around 7-10%.
Living in Toxteth
Toxteth lies just south of central Liverpool and has great transport links into the city centre, notably with numerous bus routes servicing the area. Likewise, Brunswick railway station is close by which operates on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.
As well as the ongoing work around the Welsh Streets and Granby Row areas, other developments include a new block of flats and restaurant planned on the historic Princes Road, the conversion of the former Liverpool Savings Bank on Park Road, and the previously noted Coleman’s Depository renovation.
This shows that investors are confident to plough their money into Toxteth, helping boost the local economy and provide further employment. Of course, this enhanced social stability means that the 1980’s volatility is a thing of the past as the area continues to see even more investment in the coming years, especially in the thriving buy-to-let sector.
