The price of buying land in the UK is expected to rise marginally in some areas and remain stable across much of the country over the coming year. This is according to the most recent Knight Frank England Residential Development Land Index, which revealed that brownfield sites shed some of their value during the third quarter, while the price of greenfield locations was broadly unchanged.
Head of residential research at Knight Frank Grainne Gilmore explained that in desirable locations, such as the south of the country, there is strong demand for new land for residential developments, while in the north there is less interest in purchasing sites for new schemes. As a result, she noted that "poorly-located land is now available at heavily reduced prices". While the market around London is expected to hold up well, brownfield locations outside the M25 belt are expected to see their land values drop by around two per cent, while greenfield prices are predicted to increase by three per cent next year.
In addition to the differences between the north and south of England where land values are concerned, there is also an increasing geographical disparity in the housing market. This is the assertion of Rightmove, which recently revealed that although property prices in the south of the UK rose by 4.7 per cent during October, in the north they declined by 0.7 per cent.