Sheffield is a city of arts and culture, budding business and plenty of history. It’s famous for its industrial history and particularly stainless steel cutlery – there’s a reason why it’s home to the Millennium Gallery that showcases metalwork and art from Sheffield and around the world.
In recent years Sheffield has undergone development and incentives that have put this U.K. city on the map for investors. Although Sheffield might be a little behind other cities like Liverpool or Leeds, it’s recent growth plans, excellent universities, large student population and growth plans means that Sheffield has more to offer than often meets the eye.
The city is situated in the centre of the U.K. and close to other major cities like Leeds. London is a direct train away and it’s got the the Peak District just an hour away by car – perfect for a dose of the glorious British countryside.
Business incentives – Rise – graduate recruitment made easy
Sheffield is committed to supporting local business, making it an excellent city for growing businesses. The cities incentive, Rise is a package available to small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and its purpose is to remove barriers associated with recruiting graduates. This incentive will support business financially, whilst delivering the best talent and placing university graduates into work.
Sheffield boasts a new superfast broadband – the next generation of broadband which is being delivered by Superfast South Yorkshire (SFSY). The SFSY Connection and Innovation Vouchers scheme offers voucher to SMEs to encourage them to make use of the faster digital connectivity.
On top of that businesses can make use of Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone which runs along the M1.
Student housing opportunities
Investing in student housing in Sheffield is as good as any! Sheffield is home to two of the country’s largest universities, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield University. Sheffield welcomes 70,000 students a year and of course, students need private residential property across the city.
For property sellers in student areas like Crookes, Sharrow, Ecclesall Road and City Road & Norfolk Park, selling a house fast in Sheffield is likely.
If you’re not interested in buying student property, the large student population is still usful for property investors. 25% of students buy or rent property in the city they studied in, so each year there’s an opportunity for new tenants.
Transport links make Sheffield an easy commute!
There are four airports in Sheffield and they’re less than half an hour away. There’s a speedy direct line to London , which means you can get to the capital in just over 2 hours.
The easy commute to the capital can be a huge benefit to businesses or professionals who want to be in London, but don’t want to pay the average London house price of £653,965. Property prices are a fraction of the price in Sheffield with an average cost of £200,235
Sheffield’s strategic economic plan
Sheffield is in the midst of a strategic economic growth plan for private sector growth. Between 2015 – 2015, there is a plan to grow the economy and create:
- 70,000 more jobs to narrow the gap with other parts of the country
- Increase businesses by 6,000 to reduce the enterprise deficit
- Create 30,000 highly skilled occupations to create a more prosperous economy
- Increase GVA in excess of 3billion to close the productivity gap
Sheffield’s property market stats
- The cheapest area in Sheffield is Gleadless Valley, which has an average house price of £82,984
- A more expensive area is Harrison Lane where houses can sell for 1.6M – 1.7M.
- The average house price in Sheffield is £200,235
Tourism in Sheffield
Tourism in Sheffield brings in around £1.2billion into the city, which is a substantial amount of the total revenue from tourism in Yorkshire (approximately £9billion).
Tourists flock to the city to enjoy some of Sheffield’s greatest sites like:
- Millennium gallery
- Winter Gardens
- Kelham Island Museum
- Sheffield Theatres
- Sheffield Botanical Gardens
- Sheffield Cathedral
- The Peak District
- Chatsworth House
- Tropical Butterfly House
- Sheffield City Hall
