If someone were to ask 100 people where they thought England´s top housing hotspot was, there is a good chance that Burnley would not turn up on the list at all. Yet, our recent study has revealed that homes in the East Lancashire town are selling 58% faster than the national average. A surprising result which piqued our curiosity and prompted us to dig a little deeper to find out what it is about Burnley that puts it in such demand from house buyers.
Our research method
Before we dig into what is behind the result, we first have to explain how we reached this conclusion. Using an API we collected house move data from several online sources as well as a few offline sources. We were able to see when a property went up for sale and when it was removed from the listings because the sale had been completed. That is to say that the legal side of the sale had been completed and contracts exchanged.
How fast are homes in Burnley moving?
Homes in Burnley are moving from being listed to contract completion faster than anywhere else in England. Fifty-eight per cent faster than in any other area.
What is behind the Burnley boom?
Affordability
Several factors are at play here, but affordability is the primary one. Properties in Burnley are still considerably cheaper than they are in other areas. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) as of March 2024, the average price of a property in Burnley is £103,000, which is well within the reach of most people. A fact that means there is a big pool of potential buyers.
The ability to climb the housing ladder
There is plenty of housing stock at either side of this price point. This is an important point because the data shows that most first-time buyers are paying only £93,000.
The fact that there is such a broad range of properties available in the area, makes it relatively easy for someone to climb the property ladder. Providing a nice big pool of potential buyers for all types of Burnley properties.
Population boom
Burnley has also seen its population grow substantially in the past decade or so. In 2011, the population of the East Lancashire town was 87,100. According to the 2021 census, it had increased by 7,500 to reach 94,600. A growth of 8.7%. During the same period, for the rest of England, the average population growth was 6.6%. In the North West, the rate of growth was only 5.2%.
A growing population generally equals a housing market that moves considerably faster.
Is Burnley set to remain a property hotspot?
There are signs that the rate at which the town´s population is growing is slowing down. Partly because one of the main drivers behind the area’s growth was the Covid pandemic. During that time, the price of houses in Burnley increased by an astonishing 37.1%.
A shift in people´s priorities led to lifestyle changes which included moving out of cities into rural areas and smaller towns. In some cases, people moved to cheaper areas as a way to reduce their debt burden and provide themselves with more financial security.
People in the UK have seen firsthand how quickly existing debt becomes unmanageable when things go wrong. The fallout from the pandemic was a wakeup call to many which changed the relationship they have with money. According to the government´s Coronavirus: Impact on household debt and savings report, UK households are taking on less new debt and are saving more than they were before the pandemic hit. Moving to cheaper areas is one of the ways some have chosen to do this.
Largely because of the Covid effect the price of the average property reached £132,000 in 2022. Only 20 years earlier in 2002, the price was £33,000. This meant that Burnley ranked 9th for the fastest pace of property price rises in the UK.
A North-South divide
This trend can also be seen in other Northern towns. When it comes to the speed at which properties change hands there is a very obvious North-South Divide. Homes in the North go from being put up for sale to completion much faster than in most of the South. Plymouth (No. 3) is the only Southern town to make the top 10. Bristol is the next one on the list, at number 11. Twenty-three of the top 30 places with the fastest-selling homes are Northern towns or cities.
Copeland has the 2nd fastest-selling homes
Copeland, another North-Western town is ranked at No. 2 in the Pay Less for Storage analysis. There are some similarities to what is happening in Burnley.
At £172,142, the average price of a property is higher. But, the majority of properties sold in Copeland in the past 12 months are terrace houses costing an average of £128,984. A price point that is low enough to attract plenty of buyers.
However, unlike Burnley, the population of Copeland is shrinking instead of growing. According to the 2021 census, it decreased by 5.0%, going from 70,600 in 2011 to just 67,100 in 2021. So, it is not that surprising that house prices in the area have fallen by 4% over the past year. This combined with the fact that the rental market is growing in the town is likely to mean that property investors will take an increasing interest in Copeland.
If you have found this article interesting, and want to see whether your town or city is in the top 50, please scroll down and take a look at the table below.
Matt Wallace
Matt is a Director of Pay Less for Storage. He blogs tips for storage customers and helps them navigate self storage.