Luton Research Report October 2018 By Strawberry Star Research [email protected] | lu2on.com Table of Contents Table of Contents............................2 LU2ON.......................................3 About Luton............................... 5 Luton - a top London commuter town..................5 Connectivity .......................................7 Planned Infrastructural Investments in Luton ...... 8 Employment ..................................... 9-10 Home Ownership and Affordability........11-12 Housing Sales Market...................13-14 Luton Rental Market....................15-16 Home Building Target and Activity.......17-18 Luton Demographics........................19 Economy and Policy........................ 20 Impact of Government Policies............. 21 First time buyers and home movers..................21 Investors..........................................22 APPENDIX..................................23 Luton Regeneration..............................23-24 Luton Map - The Golden Triangle.................25-26 1 2 Introduction LU2ON • 24/7 Concierge services • Solar panel A residential-led mixed use development by Strawberry Star Homes in Kimpton Road, Luton, close to • 24 hour CCTV • MVHR Ventilation system London Luton Airport. • Video entry system • Hyper-optic Connectivity The development is just 200 metres from the Luton Airport Parkway Railway Station and comprises • Luxury and stylish interiors 785 residential units (suites, 1-bed & 2-bed apartments), including 8,400 sq. ft gym facility, • Restaurants and bars 49,600 ft retail space, over 200 hotel rooms and 10,000+ sq metres of attractive public realm and • Over 10,000 sq metres of attractive parking spaces. • Bicycle storage public realm, open spaces and • Storage / Recycling Centre landscaped gardens The residential development will be released in two phases with a target completion of Phase 1 • Secure parking in 2021. LU2ON is designed and modelled specifically for first-time buyers, young professionals • Provisions made to include commuting to work, home-movers, buy-to-let landlords, and international investors. • Multiple landscaped private supermarket, childcare and roof-top gardens As a top London commuter belt town, Luton provides first-class infrastructure with high-speed pharmacy travel into Central London, easy access to the M1, M6 and M25 motorways and Luton Airport, which offers connectivity to 30+ countries and over 140 destinations across Europe, Asia and Africa. • Boutique Retail Shops • 3 / 4 star Hotel As well as being at the heart of one of the region’s most important historic sites (the former • Convenience Stores Vauxhall Motors factory, where some of Britain’s most iconic and best-loved cars were built), LU2ON is putting Luton’s most exciting new neighbourhood on the map. 3 4 About Luton - a top London commuter town The Luton London connection is the result of a centuries-old relationship between the two locations. It all started with a mythical beast - the emblem of a griffin, which is visible throughout Luton. The creature of folklore was adopted as a logo by Vauxhall Motors. Scottish Engineer Alexander Wilson, who founded the company in Vauxhall, South London in 1857, took the name for his new business venture, bringing the griffin emblem back to its ancestral home of Luton and strengthening its long-standing link with London. Luton is in an unrivalled position, located just 23 minutes by train and 30 miles drive to London. Luton’s combination of superb infrastructure, great transport access and an increasing skilled workforce makes it one of the UK’s best opportunities for business, investment and the property market. It also ranks 4th in the Top 10 Greenest Index, which focuses on UK towns and cities for environment and sustainability performance. Located in the South East, Luton is surrounded by the Chilterns, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Luton offers the best of both worlds - a modern town with excellent business opportunities and accommodation with a superb countryside on its doorstep, making it a wonderful place to live and work. With a population of about 216,000 people, Luton has a very rich cultural heritage and diverse community and located within the famous ‘Golden Triangle’ of Cambridge, Oxford and London, encompassing Europe’s top universities. Luton boasts of top of the class amenities, most of which are within a short distance from LU20N. These include popular schools such as the internationally recognised University of Bedfordshire and a host of outstanding primary and secondary schools. There are innumerable attractive parks, open spaces, shopping and recreation centres including golf courses, the popular Luton Cultural Quarter and Luton Shopping Centre, which are going through major improvements. Properties in Luton outperform neighbouring towns and commuter towns with similar journey times to London, in terms of value for money, capital growth and investment returns. Restaurants Bars/Pubs Schools - Each with Grade 1: 1. Cafe Shimla 11. George II Outstanding Ofsted Rating 2. Brasserie Azure 12. The Black Horse 16. Tennyson Road Primary School 3. Villa Ada 13. The Great Northern (0.8 miles from LU2ON) 4. Monna Lisa 14. The White House 17. Hillborough Infant School 5. La Trattoria 15. Off the Wall Luton (1.1 miles from LU2ON) 6. Nakorn Thai 18. Crawley Green Infant School 7. Papa J’s (0.5 miles from LU2ON) 8. Desert’s Rose 19. Richmond Hill School 9. Steakout Luton (1.2 miles from LU2ON) 10. La Dolce Vita 20. Woodlands Secondary School (3.6 miles from the LU2ON) * The Luton DART is scheduled to open in 2021 London Central Terminus Source: Strawberry Star Research / National Rail & Zoopla (Oct 2018) 5 6 Connectivity Planned Infastructural Investment in Luton • With three mainline rail stations, two M1 junctions and an international airport, Luton’s transport links are second to none • £200m investment to build a 2.1 mile ‘Direct • Only 23 minutes from London and a little over Air to Rail Transit (DART)’ driverless rail an hour from the Midlands by rail, Luton’s Connectivity Points LU2ON shuttle that will provide fast, frequent and Investments in Luton connections take people across the UK and reliable transfers for passengers between to Europe, including direct train links Luton Airport Parkway rail station and Luton to St Pancras International, where you can Airport Terminal in around 5 minutes, 24 catch the Eurostar to Paris, Amsterdam and hours a day. The DART is scheduled to become Brussels. Also, the newly launched Thameslink operational in 2021 £1.5bn railway, offers frequent direct train travel 23 Mins Planned regeneration and by train to London King’s Cross to other London termini and centres including • Luton Airport is currently undergoing a investment in Luton London Bridge, Blackfriars and London St. Pancras International £160m expansion that has the potential to Farringdon in less than an hour contribute £4.3bn to the UK economy by 2034, creating 70,000 jobs nationally, 42,000 jobs • Excellent road connections – newly-widened in Luton and over 18 million passengers per Luton DART M1, minutes from the M25 and a short distance year by 2020 Driverless trains from Luton Airport from the A1 Parkway Station to Luton Airport Direct Trains • Transformation of the Luton shopping centre • The Busway is a revolutionary transport link To London Bridge, Blackfriars and the Luton Cultural Quarter, which will that connects Luton, London Luton Airport, and London Farringdon contribute an additional £29m to the local Dunstable and Houghton Regis. These routes economy and increase employment provide core services between Luton and Airport Expansion Dunstable every 7 minutes at peak times. • The area adjacent to LU2ON site is one of Potential to contribute This provides fast, frequent and reliable the only 24 areas in England that secured £4.3 Billion to UK economy transport on the traffic-free guideway 2 Mins Walk an Enterprise Zone status (for priority between the two town centres in just 15 from LU2ON to Luton Airport economic growth ), with a catchment reach of minutes. The Busway is both flexible and 23 million people; higher than the London quick, providing efficient travel for both Parkway station Heathrow Enterprise Zone catchment area work and leisure Priority Economic • £1.5b investment in the next 20 years, that • London Luton Airport offers flights to more will create an estimated 18,500 jobs Growth Area than 140 destinations across Europe, Asia in Luton Enterprise Zone Status for and Africa major regeneration • Confidence in the Luton economy is also • According to the Luton Airport Guide, 15.7 boosted by the £350m investment in the Luton million passengers travelled through London Airport by the Australian company Luton Airport (LLA) in 2017, an 8.6% increase AMP Capital from 2016 • £30 million funded improvement to M1 • Fully connected to superfast broadband with a Junction 10a which will vastly improve coverage of 97.6% in Luton traffic flow to the airport and surrounding area Direct train connections (Luton to London) 37 mins London Farringdon By Train By Foot Luton 45 mins London London Bridge 23 mins Kings Cross St. Pancras 41 mins Eurostar London Connection to Paris, Blackfriars Brussels & Amsterdam 7 89 Employment A report from the Luton Functional Economic Market Area Study (LFEMAS), shows that Luton has a self- With a significant number of people from the containment rate of 63%, indicating that the labour market is more localised. Luton has a strong functional towns