Sunday Times names Derby as one of the best places to invest in 2025

Derby has been named as one of the best places to invest in property by a national newspaper.

The city has been included in The Sunday Times’ Top 20 Best Places to Invest in Property in 2025, rubbing shoulders with locations in London, Liverpool and Leeds.

The article describes Derby as “up-and-coming” where house prices are “reassuringly low”.

It also says the city is home to blue chip manufacturers like Rolls-Royce, Alstom and Toyota Manufacturing UK, which help make average salaries among the highest outside of London.

It states: “…a lot of effort is being spent turning the centre into the kind of place that young professionals want to spend their time.

“The opening of the £46 million Becketwell Live (now Vaillant Live arena, multi million-pound revamps for the Market Hall and theatres, and a pipeline of new homes suggests that this is a city on the up.”

John Forkin, managing director at Marketing Derby, said: “Derby’s inclusion in this influential list is a measure of just how far the city has come in terms of repurposing its offer and making it an attractive place to live, work and visit.

“We are still on that journey – with many more major investments to come – and we are seeing savvy buyers investing their money in Derby.”

According to The Sunday Times, the average property price in Derby is £239,000, with “the best city centre flats costing £200,000 and good Victorian terraces about £300,000”.

It also points out that Derby is home to six Green Flag parks – with the Peak District 20 minutes away.

It also highlights Derby’s central location as a positive – with the rest of England in easy reach.

Currently, Derby city centre is in the middle of a ‘residential revolution’, with thousands of new homes being built.

Leading the way is Wavensmere Homes, which has three major schemes in the city.

The housebuilder has embarked on the final phase of its £175 million Nightingale Quarter scheme on the site of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

The 18.5-acre development will complete this year and features 125 houses and 800 apartments, together with an extensive range of community amenities.

Meanwhile, Wavensmere has started work on the redevelopment of the iconic Friar Gate Goods Yard, which will be turned into a mixed-use scheme featuring more than 110,000 sq ft of commercial space, alongside 276 new homes.

It has also secured planning permission for a 195-apartment scheme, in Full Street, called Cathedral One.

The £30 million project, overlooking the River Derwent, will be built on vacant land previously occupied by the former Full Street police station.

James Dickens, managing director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “We are proud to be Derby’s most active housebuilder, with 1,400 new homes newly completed, under construction, or in planning.

“The scale, quality, and transformational impact of our regeneration projects have attracted significant national attention from the media and created a ripple effect of investment across Derby city centre.

“Sir Keir Starmer and Rt Hon Angela Rayner visited Nightingale Quarter last year, followed by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones earlier this year.

“Our purchasers are benefiting from exceptional capital growth and rental yields, so it’s wonderful that The Sunday Times recognises this and has placed Derby in its Best Places to Invest in Property Guide for 2025.”

Elsewhere, Compendium Living is busy delivering the regeneration of Castleward, which features hundreds of new homes.

The £100 million place-making project is into its fourth phase, with design work already underway for phase five.

And the Derbion has ambitions for the city, which includes hundreds of homes and commercial uses, alongside new green spaces.

To read The Sunday Times article in full, visit https://www.thetimes.com/best-places-to-live/location-guide/article/areas-invest-property-houses-2025-vx3n2gssd.