Is there a website that predicts areas where house prices are likely to boom due to regeneration?

I want to buy a property, preferably in the South where i'm from but wonder if there is a resource to tell me what towns are better placed to make money on a property and where investment will pour into the area. If not , do you know of any areas destined for greatness?

Here are some ways to find the areas that are likely to be hot-spots in near future. These are not easy and assume a lot of patience and analysis.

1.Watch the house price index from official sources and see the trend over a couple of months.
2.Watch the mass-media headlines or search through the internet for events that can change a certain area such as:
-new tube or train station 鈥?usually announced several years ahead of starting the work (and the work would also take several years to complete) 鈥?investing in such areas is a long term investment 鈥?these areas are not necessary considered regeneration areas
-large areas being regenerated due to a national event (such as Olympics in London) and this usually takes place in rundown areas or areas occupied by commercial premises (such as warehouses, garages, derelict buildings etc)
-places with many council estates that are old and looks set for demolition and replacement due to insecurity of their old construction or poor maintenance.
-Massive new jobs in a specific area due to an important event (Example: Canary Wharf is a double winner due to being a regeneration area as well as being a place offering massive jobs)

As with any property investment, the earlier you spot it the greater the returns. However, it could have different turns if the government鈥檚 plans change.

Furthermore, you need to be aware of the likelihood of subsidising the rental (i.e. the rental income from the properties might be very low and not enough to cover the mortgage due to the unpopularity of the area until the regeneration completes).

The best is to buy off-plan properties as they take 2-3 years to build. During this time you do not need a mortgage neither tenants, whilst the properties gain capital growth under your name. Therefore, by the time these properties are completed, the area might get better image and consequently better rental income. If the rental is not good, you could always sell them before completion (and that way you would not incur stamp duty) and keep the profit. If you reinvest the profit, you could apply for a capital gains tax (CGT) deferral. Doing it through a limited company will also reduce the CGT to 19% (rather than 40% if buying privately).

Be aware of builders selling off-plan properties at prices that do not reflect the current market value (i.e. if the properties take 2 years to built and the area has a reputation of 10% annual capital growth, then the builder will increase the current price by 20%; you would therefore not benefit from any capital growth during the off-plan period; furthermore, you might have problems in mortgaging the properties if the builder overestimated the capital growth)

Here are some areas declared as current hot-spots in Greater London:
Camden Town
Hackney 鈥?such as Hoxton (new station and some regeneration)
Newham
Richmond

Best if you buy properties through an intermediary (i.e. a company that buys in bulk from the builder and get good discounts; in turn, the intermediary will pass some of the discounts to small investors that buy only one or two properties). Furthermore, discounts are usually expected from small builders and rarely from the giants in the industry.

I have bought in the past from some internet sites intermediaries. One of the best ones is www.londonoffplan.com.

The best place to get funds for investments is you own home by using any equity you have (by way of re-mortgaging). However, you need to ensure that you can afford the increased mortgage payments., if necessary, do only interest only payments until the investments bring a return.

Good hunting!

PS
Check these websites:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/pdf/p/hpi/Hou... - last month house price index

http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/ - this website gives you the prices of recently sold properties in any UK area (by the postcode) - it will give you an idea of the average prices for a specific area of interest

Not that I know of. you need to look at particular places and see how they are developing - inward investment etc. And look at the local media. I read somewhere recently that North Bristol is a boom area for property prices because of regeneration, growth in employment in the area etc., Cardiff Bay was another I believe.

(I'm not in Bristol and not trying to sell a house there by the way!)