GO ANYWHERE in the world and you will find that most people have heard of
Belfast. But although well known, it is also badly misunderstood. People,
like me, who grew up in the Province, expend excessive energy trying to
convince those from elsewhere that the news bulletins of the 1970s and 1980s
suggest an image of sectarian strife and religious distrust that we no
longer recognise.
Belfast has spent the past ten years relentlessly reinventing itself in an
attempt to shed its old associations with the Troubles. Now these determined
endeavours are paying off and it is emerging as a vigorous city with strong
economic credentials.
Nationwide Building Society’s latest regional property market survey shows
that Northern Ireland has had the fastest-growing prices in the UK over the
past year, with a rise of 24.9 per cent. The average property in Belfast now
costs £193,180 —up an average of 13 per cent over the past 12 months.
Terraced houses have seen the biggest rises since March 2005 — up 24 per
cent — according to a separate report from the University of Ulster and Bank
of Ireland. Apartments, detached properties and semi-detached homes also
rose in price by 21 per cent.
One reason for the double-digit rises in property values is the strength of
the economy, which has been boosted by public and private sector investment.
In Northern Ireland unemployment is at a record low — 9,000 new jobs are
created every year, and the majority of those are in Belfast, which has a
population of only 700,000. Businesses are attracted by labour costs lower
than in the rest of the UK and a youthful workforce that is one of the most
highly educated in Europe —
46 per cent of Belfast’s population is under the age of 30. Talk used to be of
the “brain drain” — young people moving away in search of good careers. Now
they are either deciding not to leave or are coming back after years away.
Mike Irvine, 31, who works in corporate finance for KPMG, is one such
homecomer. After living in Battersea for 3½ years, he returned to Belfast in
2002. He sold his small one-bedroom London flat and for just £20,000 more
bought a three-bedroom townhouse with three reception rooms, garden and
garage near Stormont in East Belfast.
“In my close circle of friends, three or four good friends have moved back.
The quality of life here is perceived to be better for young professionals
and the working hours tend to be a bit less brutal. It only takes me 20
minutes to get to work, and I can be on the golf course in five minutes.
People tend to be friendlier — it is a more relaxed place.” He does miss
some of London’s charms (Premiership football and the theatres), but is
impressed by how Belfast has changed. “Parts of the city you wouldn’t have
gone to in the past are becoming very trendy.”
John Cook, a 31-year-old journalist, returned to Northern Ireland five years
ago after working in Australia, the Middle East and London. For him a big
draw was being close to family and friends. He is about to buy a new 800 sq
ft two-bedroom flat in the city centre with a friend for £200,000. He says:
“For a lot of people during the Troubles the future was very bleak. But
there were also a lot of people who were excited about a shared future. Now
there is a good standard of life here, there is plenty to do, places to go.
Extraordinary prices are being paid for small flats.”
The demand for new builds has multiplied in the past year — the new
developments now account for more than a quarter of all transactions.
Investors and first-time buyers queue outside sales offices snapping up
flats costing from £125,000. Sometimes those making these vigils are paid up
to £1,000 on behalf of professionals who cannot afford to give up days in
the office to join a queue. “The problem with Belfast is that it is
practically built out to the limits. We are bursting at the seams”, says
Barry Kernahan of Halifax’s new homes division in Belfast. “All the
developments are selling off-plan. It has been like this for ten months.”
But Belfast’s prosperous property market has provoked debate that boom could
soon turn into bust. Rental yields are not as strong as they once were, as
concerns mount that too many properties, especially apartments, are being
built. And there’s the question of affordability: rises in house prices have
not been matched by pay increases. The average Ulster salary is £20,148; the
average home is six times that. Some experts say the Province is playing
catch-up. Property prices in Northern Ireland are lower than in the Irish
Republic, and at the beginning of 2005 Ulster was the cheapest place in the
UK in which to buy a home. Now prices have overtaken those in Wales and
Scotland.
Properties in South Belfast are among some of the most expensive in the
Province. Here average values have risen by almost 30 per cent to £188,000
in the past year, according to University of Ulster and Bank of Ireland
figures. But along the exclusive Malone Road (Belfast’s answer to Kensington
and Chelsea) sprawling detached houses cost more than £1 million. In East
Belfast prices average at £165,000, up by almost 18 per cent since last
year. In North Belfast values rose by 26 per cent over the same period,
while in West Belfast — which covers some of the city’s more historically
troubled areas — growth was weakest at 10 per cent.
But areas such as the Falls and Shankill Roads, famous for all the wrong
reasons, are becoming known for all the right ones. Bars, clubs, hotels and
swish property developments are springing up all over this compact city.
The city centre’s streets are receiving a £14 million facelift that includes
the installation of public works of art. Already the Laganside Project (site
of the Waterfront Hall — a massive conference and concert venue), which
began in the 1990s, is an established part of Belfast’s lively scene. The
area has attracted £870 million worth of investment and has 1,000
residential units, costing from £135,000. The newest addition will be the £
50 million Obel Tower — Ulster’s tallest building with 26 storeys — where
flats costing £100,000 and above were sold within 48 hours of their launch
last year But the jewel in Belfast’s new crown is Titanic Quarter. The
largest regeneration project in the city will be on the site of the former
shipyard where the iconic Harland and Wolff cranes stand and the Titanic
was built. When it is completed in 15 years’ time, there will be 5,000
residential units. Flats are expected to cost from £130,000 when the first
phase is released in September. It will also be home to the £70 million
Science Park business centre, which already hosts Microsoft and Citigroup.
This, says Brendan Mullan, chief executive of Investment Belfast, is the new
face of the city. “Citigroup’s arrival is almost like the first swallow of
spring; the fact that a global blue-chip company is investing here is
getting the message through that Belfast is a good place to do business.”
BACK HOME
MY husband — an Ulsterman — and I are moving from Kent to Belfast this summer.
For us, the appeal of Northern Ireland’s capital is obvious. Prices are
about 75 per cent of those we are used to in southeast England and the
housing stock runs from attractive Victorian and Edwardian terraces to
cleverly designed new-builds.
We’ve been looking for a two or three-bed place in the city centre or South
Belfast, the academic, arty quarter. For about £180,000 to £200,000, we’ll
be torn between a smart new flat in the centre with great views or a
red-brick townhouse. The estate agent Gerry O’Connor has a two-bed terraced
house available for £189,500 in Sandhurst Gardens, Stranmillis. Or there’s
CHK’s Somerset Studio, a two-bed flat in the city centre with a price tag of
£168,000. You’ll find real property bargains in places such as Ballysillan
and Cliftonville, with houses for £110,000 and flats for £80,000.
Desmond Curley, a partner in Ulster Property Services, says Belfast is now hot.
“Northern Ireland is ready to go if we can get more investment and more
tourism and keep things in perspective.” He’s frustrated by the slow rate of
progress and irritated by talk of postcode sectarianism. “If you think like
that, there’s no hope. South, North, East and West Belfast all have their
different advantages, depending on what you want.”
- www.propertynews.com; Halifax estate agents, 028-9066 8999, www.halifaxco.uk;
Gerry O’Connor, 028 9066 2366, www.gocestateagents.com; Templeton
Robinson, 028-9066 3030, www.templetonrobinson.co.uk; Ulster Property
Sales, 028-9045 6146, www.ulsterpropertysales.co.uk; CHK agents,
028-9043 5479
JANE HARDY
