The 20 most desirable UK locations for young professionals

The south coastal town of Hove is the most desirable location to buy a home in England and Wales for young professionals, new research shows.

Hove takes top spot for the second year running, with its neighbour Brighton coming in as the seventh most popular place to live for aspiring 25 to 44 year-olds.

London remains the most popular place for young professionals, with 16 of the 20 areas with the most property sales to this group being located in the capital.

Half of the top 20 places are taken by SW post codes and include locations such as Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Battersea, Balham and Clapham.

Outside of South London the most popular areas for young professionals are Hampstead, Kilburn, Paddington and Islington.

Reading is the 20th most popular place for aspiring young urbanites, drawn by a combination of Reading’s short commuting time to London, close proximity to technology businesses and the planned opening of Cross Rail in 2019.

Didsbury in South Manchester is the most popular area for young professionals outside southern England.

Around the regions, the other popular hotspots for career-minded young people include the CB4 area of Cambridge, West Bridgford in Nottingham, Jesmond in Newcastle, Cardiff Central in Wales and Broomhill in Sheffield.

On average young professionals pay a premium of £88,000 for a home in the most popular postal districts compared to the wider city or town in which they are located. However, the average house price in the most popular postal district of BN3 is £33,972 lower than in the whole of Hove (£352,718 v £386,690).

In other areas of London the price premium is considerably larger. In the W4 district of Chiswick the average house price of £866,492 is £390,388 higher than in local area district of Hounslow. In the N1 area of Islington houses are trading at an average premium of £267,891 compared to the whole of the Islington borough.

Even outside London young professionals face hefty prices for a home in the most popular areas. In Didsbury homes trade at a premium of £106,383 compared to Manchester (£266,105 v. £159,722). In Clifton the average house price of £397,599 is £132,163 higher than in Bristol as a whole and in Harborne they trade at a premium of £101,592 compared to the whole of Birmingham.

The three most expensive areas for young professionals all command an average house price in excess of £1 million – Hampstead (£1,318,492), Paddington (£1,220,198) and Fulham (£1,088,131).

Mike Songer, Lloyds Bank mortgage director, said: “Young professionals tend to have a professional or university qualification, are in well paid jobs and enjoy an urban lifestyle without the hustle and bustle of living in the city centre. Our research shows that aspiring young urbanites choose to settle in areas which give them the best of both worlds – attractive suburbs offering good amenities and quality of life, which are within easy reach of a larger city centre – and in many cases they are prepared to pay a premium to live there.

“With a third of London’s population in the 25 to 44 age group it is not surprising many of the most popular areas with this group are in the capital.”

Top 20 areas for young professionals

Source: Land Registry 12 months to February 2016

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