It may not come as a shock to discover house prices in Bristol are rising at a far greater rate than the rest of the UK.

Bristol is expected to experience higher-than-average house price and rental growth than the rest of Britain over the next five years, according to a report by Bristol property experts JLL.

During 2018 the value of a typical two-bedroom apartment in Bristol rose from £280,000 to £290,000.

And there is no sign of Bristol’s property values slowing down anytime soon.

In fact according to JLL’s new Find The Gap report property prices are expected to increase by another 1.5 per cent this year - compared to a 0.5 per cent increase in London.

But this is nothing compared to the increase in rental market.

The JLL report found that an insufficient rental stock in the city is leading to strong rental growth with the average rent in Bristol increasing by 4.1 per cent last year. 

And this is expected to increase an average of 3.1 per cent per year over the next five years compared with a national average of 2.4 per cent.

The report found that prices are being driven by not enough new development to meet demand and the rise of city-centre living.

JLL said that despite Bristol's rental pipeline being the seventh strongest in the UK - with 2,100 units planned across ten new schemes - demand will continue to outstrip supply in the coming years. 

James Petherick, residential development director in JLL's Bristol office, said: "Bristol continues to pick up accolades for desirable city centre living - most recently it was voted best place to live for under 26-year-olds by the BBC - so it is no surprise that demand for housing continues to rise.

"Despite several new city centre schemes on the horizon, such as City & Country's Factory No. 1 in Bedminster and ND7 - L&G's build to rent scheme at Temple Quay, we see demand continuing to outstrip supply over the next five years leading to significant increases in rental values and house prices.

"New schemes such as the creation of build-to-rent developments will help to plug the gap, but Bristol's planners and developers need to think creatively and flexibly if we are to build sufficient homes to meet demand."

Read the original article from the Bristol post here