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You will possibly have read previously how the market for Waterfront apartments is not as lucrative as had been expected. At the turn of the millennium when building tower blocks on the Northern Quays started Ipswich was predicted to be the ‘go to’ residential destination for London commuters.
However, twenty years after the demolition teams started there are still quite a number of flats ‘for sale,’ many of which have been on the market for some time. The tallest block, The Mill at 23 storeys and the attached seventeen storey block are still not finished and have never been occupied.
The former B&Q site in Grafton Way – at one time earmarked for Tesco – received planning permission for town houses rather than the multi-storey apartments we expected. What is interesting here is that as the contractor, Galliard Homes, starts building expecting to sell the units individually ‘off plan’. The entire site has been sold to a private landlord. Every single one of the 163 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes have been purchased for the rental market by Aviva Investors and build-to-rent specialists Packaged Living.
This type of private landlord, which offers newly-built homes for rent, is relatively new to Ipswich but is becoming increasingly common in London and other cities. Young professionals cannot afford to buy, but choose to spend a considerable proportion of their salary on renting an ‘up-market’ property.
JN