Which UK cities are the best to invest in? Data reveals the perfect locations to start a business or buy a house

Location is a fundamental aspect of investing in a business or buying a home. From consumer demand, competition and business survival rates to employment, salary and even schooling, a lot can affect why you invest somewhere.

Whatever your new venture, we at Raisin UK are here to help. We analysed the largest cities across the United Kingdom, evaluating the working population, the rates of business survival over one year, the variance in house price changes, the amount of people per job opening and the price of office space per square foot in order to find the best cities to invest in.

Top 5 cities to invest in; with Leicester in the top spot

5. Brighton and Hove

Photo by Ben Guerin

The seaside city of Brighton and Hove is known for its beautiful scenery and close proximity to London. A vibrant and thriving city that maintains a community feel, it is well sought after by those looking to settle down and those looking to start a business, so it is no surprise that it made it into our top 5. An affluent city with a passion for supporting independent, creative and new businesses, and this is reflected in the 90.3% business survival rate. A flourishing digital and tech industry means that new businesses are escalating alongside house prices, which have increased by 17%, showing Brighton and Hove is on the up.

4. Chester

Photo by Nate K

Home to beautiful architecture, Chester is the perfect place to invest in. Well connected with public transport and motorways offering easy access to major cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, as well as the rest of the North West. A home in Chester could be ideal, and it’s also the perfect location to start a business, as more and more people look for prosperous areas to develop in outside of London. Chester’s working population is thriving as well, with a 90.6% business survival rate making it more likely to succeed.

3. Coventry

Photo by Stuart Frisby

The city of culture for 2021, Coventry is going from strength to strength, making it the perfect place to invest in. As inward investments drive energy and community towards the growth of the city, more and more people are striving to see it succeed, with house prices following suit with a 28.1% increase. Known locally as Silicon Spa, Coventry is a hub for advanced manufacturing and gaming industries, making it the natural choice for some sectors, with a prosperous workforce of 245,227 leaving plenty of room for development.

2. Bristol

Photo by Dean Moriarty

From idyllic landscapes to vibrant street art, Bristol is known for its culture and history of innovation. An amazing place for startups and SMEs, with survival rates over 1 year at 88.7%, Bristol is thriving with businesses to develop and experience to share. The exceptional universities on its doorstep mean that the bright and brilliant minds of the future will likely be looking for work in the area. The working population of 317,778 makes it an ideal area to invest in creative, tech and digital.

1. Leicester

Photo by trabantos

Coming first place for the best city to invest in, Leicester has seen a resurgence in textile manufacturing alongside thriving automotive and transport industries. Ranking highly across the board thanks to an abundance of support for high-tech industries, Leicester should be high on your list if you are looking to establish a standing within these sectors. A diverse city with a hefty working population of 236,880, amazing transport links and vibrant culture, Leicester is the choice city for investment in the UK with a business survival rate 91.4% leaving it striving for success.

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City investment index; the top 38 cities in the UK to start a business and invest in property

Ready to take the next step?

Whether you’re looking to start a business or buy a house in a new city, it’s never been more important to maximise your savings. With Raisin UK, you can compare savings accounts to find the best solution for you. All that’s left for you to do is sit back, relax and watch your money grow, thanks to the competitive interest rates provided by our partner banks.

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If you enjoyed this article, you may also like to read about the highest paying degrees in the UK.

Heading photo by Aswin Mahesh

Methodology

The city investment index was populated by the cities which fulfilled all data queries for evaluating the working population, the rates of business survival over 1 year, the variance in house price changes, the amount of people per job opening and the price of office space per square foot to find the best cities to invest in. Each city was allocated a ranking score out of 40 for each factor with an overall ranking out of 200 creating the index.

Sources

Workforce population (16-64)
MYE2: Population estimates: Persons by single year of age and sex for local authorities in the UK, mid-2018: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

Businesses that opened in 2017 that survived their first year: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable

The average House Price % change from 2015-2019:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/uk-house-price-index-data-downloads-february-2020

Claimant Rate 2020
Figures based on Claimant rate – which shows for example, as of March 2020 Cambridge has 0.3 job vacancies per claimant – Adzuna

Average cost of office unit

Using the filters “Top 100”, “most popular”, offices – by city. Then calculated the average price per sq ft for the most popular 100 offices per city – Zoopla