Residential Land Values in Merseyside

In the past six months, the number of land sales for residential development in the Merseyside area has been few. For the sales that have gone through, most were done between public parties with few sales for private developers. This information leads us to believe that the housing market in Knowsley, Liverpool, and Sefton remains somewhat static.

Although there were significant price increases for the housing market just two years ago, we now see a dramatic slowing. For this reason, land sales are also down. Currently, a number of commercial developments are occurring in Merseyside, as they get ready for the Capital of Culture in 2008. However, anyone can guess if this action will promote any interest in residential development sites beyond that.

In Warrington, we see the local authorities still using strict planning guides, meaning residential development is tightly restricted. Even with that, large planned developments in this part of the UK, specifically in the north, are taking place on Brownfield sites although the majority will be for the building of apartments. We do see a definite rise in the value of land throughout this area while creating an oversupply is a real risk.

Interesting, Warrington South has seen a handful of transactions, which leads us to believe the value of land has been static for more than six months. The thing to remember is that Warrington South has some great land, which is highly suitable for residential development. For this reason alone, sales in the future could very well encourage higher prices.

Now if you look at Wirral, the planning authority there is now imposing a moratorium on all new residential consents but only for the highly desirable areas in the west. Because of this, displaced demand is apparent to the less desirable areas to include Wallasey, Birkenhead, and the east section of Wirral. Because of this, the price of hectares in the west section has climbed to as high as £2.4 each. Just keep in mind that these assertions are currently not supported.

For the Ellesmere Port area of the UK, most experts take a cautious approach in how this is reported. For instance, about 18 months ago, two specific transactions occurred, one at Cromwell Road and the other at Ince Road. In both cases, remediation issues were involved and the sites in less than desirable locations. With this, one could surmise low buyer confidence. Since that time, no new confidence has been reported.

Finally, you have the areas of Halton and St. Helens. For Halton, evidence of development land transactions is limited. In fact, the majority of land available in this area is actually held by local authorities. Then, you have St. Helens, which have values that vary significantly. The prices associated with land development there are controlled by land and location conditions. The sales showing increase in recent months have been for the larger sites.

- James M

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