Property Investment in the North East of England
The strongest rent-to-price numbers we see anywhere. Houses here cost £75,000 to £105,000 and, reconfigured for family accommodation, lease at £1,100 to £1,200 a month on a five-year term.
We moved into the North East because the arithmetic that made Liverpool work in 2018 is now easier to find here. A two- or three-bedroom terrace in South Tyneside, Gateshead or County Durham costs less than a small flat in much of the South, and the rent a provider will pay for it is higher than anything comparable in the North West.
The work we do here is a little different. Rather than buying a house and leaving it as it is, we typically reconfigure it to four bedrooms so that it suits family accommodation, and furnish it — which providers in this region require and North West providers generally do not. That is budgeted into the refurbishment from the start, not discovered later. It usually adds real value too: an £85,000 two-bedroom reconfigured to three has valued at £110,000 and more.
These are family homes on a single lease, not shared houses and not let by the room. We work with several providers across the region rather than relying on one, which means we can choose both the provider and the contract type — emergency family accommodation for most of what we buy, prison-leaver resettlement where a property suits it, and never the national asylum contracts. We have a partner based in the region who views every property in person and negotiates locally, and the provider confirms the property and the rent before anything reaches an investor.
Where we buy in the North East.
We work in a deliberately small number of places. Knowing a handful of markets properly beats covering the whole country badly.
South Tyneside — South Shields and Jarrow
Where most of our current North East buying happens. Solid terraced stock at £75,000 to £105,000, close to the river and the coast, with strong provider demand for family accommodation. This is where the four-bedroom conversion works best.
Gateshead and the Derwent valley
Chopwell and the surrounding former pit villages give us the lowest entry prices of anywhere we buy. Substantial houses, genuinely cheap, and within reach of Newcastle and Gateshead for work.
Bishop Auckland, Willington and Crook
County Durham, where our North East pipeline began. Four-bedroom houses here still cost less than a one-bedroom flat in much of the South, and there is substantial regeneration investment going into Bishop Auckland town centre.
Stanley
North-west County Durham, between Durham and Newcastle. Larger properties than the price would suggest, which makes it one of the better places we work for anyone wanting a four-bedroom house on a modest budget.
Washington and Sunderland
Washington is a post-war new town between Sunderland, Gateshead and Durham, so the housing is newer and more uniform than the Victorian terraces we buy further south — which usually means less to put right. Nissan Sunderland and the wider automotive supply chain underpin local employment.
Our North East markets.
South Tyneside & Gateshead
South Shields, Jarrow and the Derwent valley villages are where most of our North East buying happens now.
County Durham
Bishop Auckland, Willington, Crook and Stanley are where our North East pipeline began.
Washington & Sunderland
Washington sits between Sunderland, Gateshead and Durham.
Looking at the North East?
Tell us your budget and how involved you want to be, and we will tell you what we can get you here.