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GRE Assets has long been a champion of regional cities as investment locations. As well as offering affordability and connectivity, one of the main reasons for this is the level of ongoing regeneration.

Our Managing Director, Michael El-Kassir, explains this in more detail: “When seeking an investment location, we take a step back and look at what local people need in that area. This means that the demand is there, so then our next job is to show our potential clients why it is a good investment opportunity. By the time an area has started trending it is often too late, so the skill is to be able to go somewhere new for the first time that is on the cusp of regeneration.”

Below, we have outlined three of the top UK regeneration hotspots in the UK – Gravesend, Peterborough and Leeds.

 

Gravesend

 The town centre of Gravesend is changing rapidly and has lots of exciting plans, as part of the council’s vision to reconnect the town with the Thames. For example, Heritage Quarter, will create a leisure destination for Gravesend, including a boutique cinema and several restaurants. Construction is set to commence imminently.

Granted planning approval in July 2020, Clifton Slipways is another major mixed-use project which will include the £2.9 million restoration of the West Street Pier, a start-up business hub and a riverside residential tower.

 The surrounding Gravesham borough is also home to some major investment projects. Most notably, Ebbsfleet Garden City, which will include the building of up to 15,000 new homes over the next 15 years; the Lower Thames Crossing; and The London Resort, a proposed theme park on the Swanscombe Peninsula.

 

Peterborough

 With £600 million of planned investment within walking distance of our Nene Wharf at Fletton Quays project, Peterborough is certainly fast-tracking its regeneration programme. The extension of Queensgate Shopping Centre; North Westgate; and the £300 million masterplan at Station Quarter are all among the projects which will reenergise the city centre.

Elsewhere in the city, Gateway Peterborough is a growing distribution and manufacturing hub near J17 of the A1(M). Set to create up to 8,000 jobs once complete, vegan milk brand Oatly is the latest company set to open a premises at Gateway Peterborough. Construction of the £30 million ARU Peterborough has also commenced and is on track to welcome its first students in Autumn 2022.

 

Leeds

 The largest city in West Yorkshire, Leeds is a major cultural and commercial hub. The South Bank area of the city is one which is experiencing the most regeneration – transforming former industrial space into a sustainable, mixed-use community. In January 2021, a £19 million loan was granted for ‘the UK’s first low-carbon urban neighbourhood’ in this area.

The construction of Yorkshire’s tallest building, the redevelopment of The Majestic into office space; and the state-of-the-art facility for Leeds Beckett University’s School of Arts are all set to change the face of the city over the coming years.

Leeds City Council has also invested £10.3 million to ‘improve public space and publicly owned property, in turn bringing increased business and investor confidence.’ The Townscape Heritage Initiative is another council-led programme which seeks to restore heritage buildings in run-down areas of Leeds.

 

GRE Assets has been delivering high quality, well connected homes in the UK and Spain since 2006.