NW land value falls by 41% in last year

Oct 1 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

THE North-West is second in the UK for falling residential land values, with drops of 41% and 36% during the past year reported for brownfield and greenfield sites respectively.

According to Knight Frank’s Development Land Index, the value of urban development land outside London has fallen by 33% over the past year and by 15% in the past quarter alone.

Greenfield sites have fared slightly better, with falls of 30% over the past year and 13% over the past three months.

Yorkshire and Humberside have been hit hardest by the downturn, with land in both categories now worth around half its value a year ago.

The capital has avoided the full impact of the downturn, with prices in Inner London falling by just 10%. Outer London areas saw a fall of 15%.

Jon Neale, head of development research at Knight Frank, said: “Over the past year, developers have put their land acquisition activities on hold, which has dramatically reduced demand for sites – by as much as 60% in some parts.

“Developers have found it almost impossible to access finance to buy land.

“Indeed, many are selling sites to raise cash and bolster their balance sheets, which has dramatically increased the supply of land on the market, further depressing values.”