21 Jan 2022
For a few months now, Newcastle’s property market has been stuck. Demand is constantly increasing, with not enough supply to provide it.
House prices have considerably gone up since before the pandemic, with a 9% increase in the Newcastle area since 2019. The average price for a house is now at £236,132 according to Rightmove.
I spoke with James Ferry, independent estate agent and property manager within his own company, James Ferry Property Management. He talks us through his current experience of the market.
One of the reason for such a shortage, is that many are now doing the big move, leaving London, to experience a more relaxed and affordable lifestyle in the North. I met Ryan, originally from Scotland, he has lived in London for 5 years. He recently moved to Newcastle with his partner.
Working from home, many people don’t feel tied to where they used to live, resulting in many relocating, able to choose their new place without having to consider professional opportunities. Thus, people like Ryan who had to start working remotely during the pandemic, chose a new place where to settle.
Famously known to be afforadble, the North East attracts more young people, with the average rent at £580pcm, compared to a £1060pcm average for the rest of the UK, according to Homelet. However, according to Spareroom 96% of their website users are finding it difficult to find a new place.
Contacted on Reddit; Rob, a 27-year-old professional, moved to Newcastle a few months ago to work in civil service. For him as well, it was a struggle. In fact, when he started looking for what was available on platforms such as Spareroom, he realised how quickly properties were being filled. According to him, some places were gone before even being posted online, with prospective tenants signing contracts without any prior viewing.
When moving into the place he is now living in, he was misled thinking it was a ‘professionals only’ flat, ending up sharing the property with three students; housemates, that he didn’t even have the opportunity to meet prior to signing his contract. Quite easygoing in general, he is now pleased to have found a place in Heaton, one of his areas of choice.
/ Image: Killian Duvivier
For him, the experience was “very stressful and daunting”, coming from the Midlands, Newcastle was completely foreign to him. As he shared, the most frustrating part was getting stood up by landlords and estate agents when he had viewings booked in when the place had already been taken priorly. The experience was even more uncomfortable as he was temporarily staying in South Shields and had to commute everyday for viewings that could be cancelled at any time, leaving him to stay outside hours on end to, hopefully, get any last minute viewing.
He is currently looking to buy his own place, experiencing similar issues; with properties being sold the day they are put up for sale.
The concierge 