A dumb investment?

There's a piece in the Evening Standard 'Homes and Property' supplement promoting Corby as a great place to buy a house.

I'm not convinced. Let's take a look at how it really stacks up.

"An hour's commute from London." This is hopeful. Corby doesn't actually have a station. Commuters either have to drive, or take a shuttle bus to Kettering. From Kettering, services are every half an hour - just about an acceptable commuter frequency, but not more.

"There are plans for thousands of new homes." Are the Evening Standard's journalists completely economically illiterate? The fact that supply is increasing is generally considered to have a downwards impact on prices, but here - as so often with coverage of the Thames Gateway - developers' PRs seem to have convinced them that increased supply is a reason to buy!

Now let's look at what the economy is like. Corby suffered badly in the 1980s after the steelworks closed. It is now seeing new jobs. But they're in food processing and distribution. Might I point out that these are not trades which employ lots of well remunerated young professionals? Many of these factories are probably paying the majority of their workers close to minimum wage. That equates to about £11,000 a year. On that, even applying five times income, and assuming you've got a £10,000 deposit, you'll be able to afford £65k for a property. Needless to say, none of the properties featured in the article are selling anywhere near that level.

I do wonder if buy to let investors are going to head for Corby on the basis of this article. There just isn't any underpinning to the argument. It looks as if someone got hold of a load of press releases and stuck them together, without asking what will drive prices up.