Thursday 27 April 2017

How do transport links affect the Warrington Property Market?


It isn’t always the most posh villages or the swankiest Warrington streets where properties sell and let the quickest. Quite often, it’s the ones that have the best transport links. There’s a reason why one of the most popular property programmes on television is called Location, Location, Location!

As an agent in Warrington, I am frequently confronted with queries about the Warrington property market, and most days I am asked, “What is the best part of Warrington to live in these days?” (chiefly from new-comers).  Now the answer is different for each person – a lot depends on the demographics of their family, their age, schooling requirements and interests etc. Nonetheless, one of the principal necessities for most tenants and buyers is ease of access to transport links, including public transport – of which the railways are very important.

Train Usage in Warrington

Official figures recently released state that, in total, 4,000 people jump on a train each and every day from Warrington’s Train stations. Of those, 962 are season ticket holders. That’s a lot of money being spent when a season ticket, standard class, to Manchester is £1,692, a year.

So, if up to £1.63m is being spent on rail season tickets each year from Warrington, those commuters must have some impressive jobs and incomes to allow them to afford that season ticket in the first place. That means demand for middle to upper market properties remains strong in Warrington and the surrounding area. In turn, these are the people happy to invest in the Warrington buy to let market – providing homes for the tenants of Warrington.

The bottom line is that property values in Warrington would be much lower (by at least 3% to 4%) if it wasn’t for the proximity of the railway stations and the people they serve in the town.

This isn’t a flash in the pan. Rail is becoming increasingly important as the costs associated with car travel continue to rise and roads are becoming more and more congested. This has resulted in a huge surge in rail travel.  

Why does this have an impact on property?

Overall usage of the station at Warrington has increased over the last 20 years. In 1997, a total of 1,336,573 people went through the barriers or connected with another train at the station in that 12-month period. However, in 2016, the figure had risen to 2,912,188 people using the station.

That’s 8,001 people a day.

The positioning of the property and the train station has an important effect on the value and saleability of a Warrington property. It is also significant for tenants. So if you are a Warrington buy to let investor looking for a property, the distance to and from the railway station can be extremely significant.

One of the first things house buyers and tenants do when surfing the web for somewhere to live is find out the proximity of a property to the train station. That’s why Rightmove displays the distance to the railway station alongside each and every property on their website. 

For more thoughts on the Warrington Property market – email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or call on 01925 235338. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP

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