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Caxtons Chartered Surveryors, Kent County Council and Locate in Kent have compiled the 29th edition of the Kent Property Market Report (KPMR). Launched at a virtual event attended by almost 350 people, the report provides an analysis of the Kent property market across key areas including residential, leisure and tourism, office and retail.

 

The Kent Property Market Report identifies the county’s property market as playing a key role in supporting economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. It also looks at the key projects, which are shaping the county. GRE Assets’ Ashford project at Riverside Park, which will deliver 246 apartments, 26 townhouses and a new public realm, is referenced in the report as part of the major ongoing regeneration in Ashford.

 

In this blog post, we have outlined the key findings of the report, with particular attention to the residential sector, as well as showcasing the growth areas which are undergoing massive inward investment.

 

Residential performance

 

KPMR praises Kent’s residential market, identifying that it has ‘proved remarkably resilient during the crisis’ and predicts it will continue to attract buyers moving from London.

 

Analysis carried out by Zoopla for the report found that prices across Kent’s housing markets have grown, with ‘the more affordable areas with high speed rail access into London generally delivering the highest pace of increase’. This is extremely promising to see as we have identified affordability and connectivity to the capital as part of our key criteria when looking for an investment location.

 

Despite the downturn in activity following the March lockdown, things have since picked up with the new homes market continuing with ‘relatively few lost sales’. As we identified in our recent blog, the Stamp Duty Holiday and Help to Buy scheme has played a considerable role in driving activity within the market.

 

A spotlight on Ashford

 

Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, Ashford’s property market has performed well and has ‘become an increasingly important commercial area.’ The Coachworks, the £90m expansion of the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet and the launch of the Curious Brewery have all shaped the town and driven footfall.

 

The report acknowledges that the progression of major projects in Ashford provides ‘optimism and opportunity for a positive economic recovery moving into 2021.’ This includes major mixed-use schemes like the £250m film studio-led development at Newtown Works, as well as the residential projects, such as Riverside Park, which support the borough’s varied housing offering.

 

North Kent: a major growth area

 

Home to the Thames Estuary growth area and benefiting from high speed rail connections, North Kent is ideally situated, close to both Greater London and Essex. With Dartford one of the fastest growing populations in the UK and Gravesham ‘poised to benefit from major infrastructure, leisure and regeneration projects’, North Kent is certainly on the up.

 

Exciting projects in the area include the progression of the Ebbsfleet Garden City project; The London Resort, proposals for a world-class theme park on Swanscombe Peninsula; and Clifton Slipways, the long-awaited riverside regeneration development.

 

For more information and to download a copy of KPMR 2020, visit http://www.kentpropertymarket.com/.

 

GRE Assets is currently delivering the second phase of Riverside Park, a major residential development in Ashford, Kent.