Posted By Gbaf News
Posted on June 29, 2018
- New study from GoCompare shows where the biggest changes in public spending, average incomes, and housing prices have taken place.
- Results surprisingly show Aberdeen ranks higher than London among the most gentrified cities in the UK.
- Cambridge ranks above all others as the UK’s most gentrified city
In recent years, gentrification has become something of a buzzword surrounding the rejuvenation of urban areas. However, the term has been around for over 50 years and was originally used to describe population changes in London. Today, gentrification is measured by the presence of cultural indicators such as coffee shops, restaurants and property price increases as a way of determining change. But what areas have undergone the biggest change?
New research from GoCompare has found the UK’s most gentrified cities, ranked by the increase in property prices, council investment, salary increase and services provided.
Top five most gentrified cities:
- Cambridge comes out top as the most gentrified city in the UK. Their council have invested more money per person for housing, planning, and cultural advances than most regions across the UK in recent years.
- Aberdeen: A surprise addition to the top 5, Aberdeen has seen a huge increase in salaries (24%) and cultural investment has increased to £110 per person since 2010 placing it above London.
- London: With a 239% increase in housing prices since 2010, it’s no shock to see London in the top five, with an average home now costing £742,454.
- Reading: Boasting an abundance of shops, pubs, and clubs, Reading comes out top for investment in services as well as 0.71 coffee shops per 10,000 people.
- Portsmouth: The coastal city comes in fifth place with a salary increase of 28% from 2010-2016 surpassing London’s salary increase in the same time period.
Measuring gentrification benefits.
This in-depth research looked primarily at four major categories through which gentrification can be defined:
- Salary – Historically, people living in certain parts of the UK could expect to earn a much higher salary than others, however, many cities have experienced notable changes such as Lancaster who’s average income has gone up by a quarter.
- Property Prices -With affluent young professionals moving into new areas, house prices are on the rise most in the capital with a 239% increase in prices
- Services – The types of shops and services in a region often indicate levels of gentrification with our research showing there to be 0.92 Waitrose’s or Sainsbury’s per 10,000 people in Reading.
- Investment – Public funding is scarce for many parts of the UK, however Brighton’s cultural spending per person was a whopping £54 per person last year alone.
