Press Release: 00056

6 September 2007

London tops class of 2007

Source: http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk

The new academic year has brought a surge of interest from property buyers in university towns and cities in August, with half of the top fifty towns and all of the top ten having university campuses. This is also the first time that London has appeared anywhere within the top fifty of the towns league table, going straight to the top of the class. The shortage of good quality student accommodation in many towns, coupled with the continuing attraction of buy-to-let property as an investment, has led to a significant increase in the number of enquiries from people looking to purchase property in areas close to universities all over the country.

Despite the highest property prices in the UK, London is still a clear winner in attracting prospective purchasers to buy into the city. But Aberdeen, Brighton & Eastbourne, York, Oxford, Falmouth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bath and Winchester have all benefited from this new wave of interest in buying property.

Demand is reported both from professional investors, as well as parents with children going up to university and needing somewhere to live. In addition, students themselves are increasingly becoming landlords as a means of gaining additional income to help fund their time in college.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - August 2007

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	London	London	401
2	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	351
3	Brighton	Sussex	205
4	York	Yorkshire	177
5	Eastbourne	Sussex	135
6	Oxford	Oxfordshire	125
7	Falmouth	Cornwall	120
8	Newcastle upon Tyne	Tyne & Wear	115
9	Bath	Somerset	115
10	Winchester	Hampshire	113
11	Truro	Cornwall	112
12	Aberystwyth	Ceredigion	106
13	Lincoln	Lincolnshire	104
14	Lancaster	Lancashire	104
15	Plymouth	Devon	97
16	Perth	Perth & Kinross	95
17	Chester	Cheshire	94
18	Scarborough	Yorkshire	86
19	Weymouth	Dorset	83
20	Cheltenham	Somerset	82
21	Ormskirk	Lancashire	82
22	Newquay	Cornwall	81
23	Canterbury	Kent	80
24	Norwich	Norfolk	74
25	Uxbridge	Greater London	71
26	Skegness	Lincolnshire	65
27	Epsom	Surrey	64
28	Swansea	Swansea	63
29	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway	62
30	Kingston upon Thames	Greater London	61
31	Carlisle	Cumbria	56
32	Bournemouth	Dorset	55
33	Dundee	Angus	54
34	Barrow-in-Furness	Cumbria	54
35	Hereford	Herefordshire	52
36	Jersey	Channel Islands	51
37	Keynsham	Somerset	51
38	Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	50
39	Blackpool	Lancashire	50
40	St Austell	Cornwall	45
41	Bridlington	Yorkshire	44
42	Craigavon	County Armagh	44
43	Hull	Yorkshire	43
44	Arbroath	Angus	43
45	Harrow	Greater London	42
46	Cirencester	Gloucestershire	42
47	Haverfordwest	Pembrokeshire	42
48	Windermere	Cumbria	41
49	Lichfield	Staffordshire	41
50	Folkestone	Kent	40

Note for Editors about the Moving Location Index and UK Property Shop

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index is based on data from a sample of people looking to buy a property and using the website to register their property search requirements with estate agents in each town. From this data a score is calculated according to the number who are considering either moving within the town where they live, or away from their home town and into another town. The Moving Location Index is not a measure of quality, simply an indication of the relative proportion of home buyers wishing to move into or out of a town, which is influenced by many factors.

The UK Property Shop website www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk was launched in 1999 and is a popular source of information for people looking to buy, sell, rent or let residential property in the UK. It also publishes the National Directory of Estate Agents, the most complete and up to date register of all UK estate agents and letting agents.