In recent years, many cities and regions have undergone huge regeneration.

Increased public spending and investment has led to rises in incomes and housing prices in these areas, but where have the biggest changes taken place?

According to a new study, the City of Cambridge is one of the most sought after, popular cities to live in as it is the most gentrified UK city!

The gentrified criteria are based on increases in property prices, the total investment spend of the council, salary increases and community services provided.

As an example, Cambridge Council claims they have invested more money per person for housing, planning and cultural advances than the other regions across the whole of the UK in recent years.

Aberdeen is in second place, predominantly due to an increase in salaries of over 24% combined with a higher cultural investment of £110 per person over the last 10 years, placing it even above London.

But London still remains in the top five cities simply due to consistently high residential property prices; the average home now costing over £740,000.

Brighton’s cultural investment was a massive £54 per person while Reading has the most coffee shops with 0.71 coffee shops per 100,000 people!

Reading boasts an abundance of retail shops, pubs and clubs and comes out top with its investment in services.

Portsmouth is also in the top five cities with salaries increasing by 28% from 2010 to 2016.

Measuring gentrification was based on four categories:

Salary – Historically, people living in certain parts of the UK could expect to earn a much higher salary than others. However, many cities have experienced notable changes such as Lancaster where incomes are up by 25%.

1. Portsmouth

2. Lancaster

3. Aberdeen

Property prices – With affluent young professionals moving into new areas, house prices reflect demand, and this is reflected in London with a 240% increase in prices since 2010.

1. London

2. Aberdeen

3. Oxford

Services – the type and size of retail outlets and services in the region often dictates the levels of gentrification with this research showing there to be 0.92 Waitrose’s or Sainsbury’s per 10,000 people in Reading.

1. Reading

2. Oxford

3. Cambridge

Investment – Public funding is scarce for many parts of the UK, with the exception of Brighton where there was an increase of £54 per person last year alone!

1. Oxford

2. Cambridge

3. Wakefield

For more information on any aspect of finding and buying a new home or relocating to the UK please contact us by email on enquiries@premier-propertysearch.co.uk or telephone + 44 (0)1962 793100.