Case Study 2

Hometrack's evaluation of property market and demographic data found that investors in Warrington make a 5.9% yield when buying and renting out an average two-bed property. Its league table of northern buy-to-let hotspots saw Warrington first, followed by Wigan, then South Tyneside, with the former Prime Minister's constituency Sedgefield coming fourth and Halton fifth. The research showed that all these towns were preferable to major City Centres.

Located just a quarter of a mile from Warrington town centre, Carrington Park has already seen tremendous success with over 100 houses and apartments already snapped up by owner occupiers and investors alike.

Over the past year, businessman Mark Earle has purchased 13 properties in Warrington, one of which was at Carrington Park . He says "I'm obviously pleased it's an area recognised as likely to produce good returns but I'm not surprised. The centres of big cities now consist of nothing but flats for investors - they've saturated the market. So I concentrate on areas outside big cities."

Mark, himself a Warrington resident, says infrastructure is key to the town's future success. "Renters seem much more willing to commute than before," adds Mark, "and Warrington is extremely well situated for Manchester and Liverpool. It has also become a much more desirable area because of improvements to the town."