Ecnomic Gap with London Widening

The economic gap between London and the rest of the UK is widening because other cities are "punching below their weight", according to research.

London has created 10 times more private sector jobs than any other city since 2010, analysis by the Centre for Cities found.  Its research found almost a third of people aged between 22 and 30 who moved cities headed for London.

London Sucks Talent From the Rest of the Country
Young people are continuing to flock to London in their droves, according to the Centre for Cities report. London appears to "suck talent from the rest of the country", the report says, with many young people never returning to their home towns.

Edinburg and Birmingham Were Next Best Performing Cities
Edinburgh and Birmingham were the next best performing cities in terms of private sector job creation, with Aberdeen also featuring in the top ten.

Researchers found "welcome signs of growth" in Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool where "significant numbers" of private sector jobs had helped to offset some of the impact of public sector job losses.

Under-performance of Sheffield and Manchester
"The bigger issue is the underperformance of our next largest cities, such as Sheffield and Manchester. "They're very much punching below their weight in terms of their contribution to the national economy."

Property Prices in London Outstrip All Other Cities By Far
Some people have told me that UK is like 2 countries, London and the others.  This research seems to be support this point. Property prices in London have shot up so much, while the rest of UK has hardly moved.

Question - If UK Recovery Is Broad Based, Will Prices Outside London Move Up?
This is the issue that we are investigating.  We think that London is rather pricey.  Certainly, if you go in now, you may still find good deals, but not so sure the upside.

The question is whether the rest of UK will benefit from the overall economic growth in the UK.  The UK economy is expected to be the fastest growing developed economy this year, and may be the next few years. 

Where Should We Invest If We Go Outside London? 

Edinburgh?  Birmingham?  Liverpool?  Manchester? 

We shall explore this topic.  Stay tuned.   

We welcome your views on this topic in our community forum.  

References
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25879681
http://www.centreforcities.org/research/outlook14.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10752204/UK-will-be-fastest-growing-economy-in-the-G7-this-year.html