Expat Property Story
Expat Property Story helps expats and overseas investors build and manage UK property portfolios remotely — from buy-to-lets and HMOs to auctions and refurbs.
Each week, John the Expat Property Guy talks to expat investors, agents, and specialists about the practical realities of investing from abroad: financing, tax structuring, remote project management, and deal sourcing.
Monday 'Mini-Sodes' feature Mortgage Updates, Auction Roundups, Tax Tips and Deal Reviews while longer Thursday shows provide everything else you need for UK property success.
With a back catalogue of 300+ episodes, this is THE podcast for anyone building UK property wealth from outside the UK.
Expat Property Story
How an Economist Spots the UK's Next Property Hotspot
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#319
About six weeks ago, in Episode 305, UK Property Market 2026: Is Now the Time to Buy? I talked to James Sproule, chief economist for Handelsbanken's UK division and former senior economic adviser to two UK prime ministers at 10 Downing Street.
That conversation was about whether you should buy UK property at all right now.
James walked us through affordability, yields, and why he sees a long-term upward bias in the market.
Right at the end, he touched briefly on something called "pretty cities," and that's exactly where this second conversation picks up.
Because deciding to buy UK property is only half the answer.
The other half is where.
In this episode, James walks through the underlying factors behind the UK's next property hotspot.
If this topic interests you, check out these two episodes from the archives:
Seven Ingredients for the Capital Growth Cake
Seven Places with Good Fundamentals
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We cover the difference between London satellites, major cities, post-industrial towns, and his "pretty cities."
We also get into why some places held their value through COVID when others didn't, and the specific criteria James personally uses to spot a location before everyone else catches on.
Elsewhere, we cover:
- The Manchester ripple effect and the M65 corridor,
- Why connectivity to bigger economic centres matters as much as affordability,
- The long-term structural undersupply of UK homes,
- What big US investment firms like BlackRock are actually buying
- The likely impact of AI and working from home on property values.
Stick around to the end, when James names a combination of two specific things he says works potentially anywhere in the UK, not just in Cambridge.
Timestamps:
00:00 – UK city categorisation: London, satellites, major cities, post-industrial towns and pretty cities
04:41 – Rising build costs and the affordability opportunity in northern towns
05:44 – Connectivity, Bradford, and the Leeds–Manchester–Liverpool corridor
07:34 – Manchester vs London: growth, affordability and consumer confidence
08:24 – The Northeast: strong yields, limited capital growth
09:00 – The UK's structural housing undersupply
10:47 – BlackRock and institutional investment in UK property
12:31 – AI, working from home, and UK property values
19:02 – Why Britain's entrepreneurial culture supports long-term optimism
20:44 – The "pretty city plus university" formula, and why it's not just Cambridge