A century of change in the UK property market: 10 HD images to help you decipher key investment areas!

The start of the New Year is set to see a new wave of change in the UK property market, both in terms of new homes supply and house prices. The new year of real estate investment is undoubtedly locking down prices as well as potential areas. Today, we are here to provide you with some of the latest information on the evolution of the UK's 100-year housing history and the latest house price hotspots, both in terms of 'area' and 'house price'.
First of all, I will show you the history of the geographical distribution of residential buildings in several major cities in the UK over the last 100 years. The blue area is the area where houses were built in the early 20th century, the red colour block indicates the area where houses were built after 2010, and the closer the colour is to the red, the more recent the time of construction.

The evolution of residential construction in Greater London has radiated from the centre to the periphery, and in recent years the development of residential construction schemes in the periphery has been accompanied by the rebuilding and restoration of homes in the central city. Within the central city limits, new housing mainly starts in Canary Wharf, Southwark and Newham, spreading westwards via Royal Albert Dock and Woodwich, extending into the Grays area. The West End of London is also home to a smaller concentration of new homes than the East, although the areas of Battersea, Wembley, Hounslow and Kingston are also home to a smaller number of new homes.

Focusing on the concentration of new homes in East London, we find Canary Wharf, Southwark, Royal Albert Dock and over 90% of the homes in North Bexley were built after the 1950s (dark red area). So if you are looking to rent or buy a new home in and around London, you may wish to focus on the dark red areas in the 2 pictures above.

The following residential evolution map is in order for Bristol, Bath, Milton Keynes, Coventry, Liverpool and Warrington, and the Birmingham area. We intercepted it for your reference.

Bristol

Bath

Milton Keynes

Coventry

Liverpool

Birmingham

Next, we look at house price hotspots. The dark red colour in the graph indicates areas with house prices of £450,000 and above, the darker the colour the higher the house price.

Over the past 12 months, the South West of England has remained the fastest-growing region for house prices. As of 31 December 2015, house prices in most parts of London reached 300,000 pounds, with both South West and North West London prices above 450,000 pounds. The fastest rate of growth has been in Newham, in London's East 3 boroughs, where the average house price has risen from £261,399 last year to £319,522 today, an annual growth rate of 22.2 per cent, twice as fast as the average house price across London. The Royston area in Hertfordshire, north London, was close behind with a 19% growth rate. Five of the top 10 fastest-rising house price regions are located in London, and all are in the North East and South East. This suggests that many of the major new build and regeneration projects have transformed these areas into new residential areas, compared with the first results of the Government's policies to boost the economy of East London over the past year. High house price concentration in outer London is located in Luton, Cambridge, Oxford and Reading areas.

The eye moves to the Midlands, where the hotspots for high house prices are concentrated in Manchester, Newcastle and the north Bradford area.

In 2016, the leader in driving UK house prices is likely to remain the South East, led by the Greater London area. The most active type of property market in London is for first-time buyers (2 homes or less), with the recent rise of new affordable apartments in the North East and South East of London becoming one of the top choices for first-time buyers. While areas such as Newham and Redbridge are still in a price depression, such low prices won't last long. With the gradual improvement of London's surface rail links and the injection of more money into regional regeneration schemes, house prices in these areas are set to see another round of growth in the new year.

The data is published by the UK Consumer Data Research Centre and The Guardian. If you want a clearer picture, please contact me.

This article is contributed by Juwai Columnist, Chloe Chen.