Southampton is in Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and has a lot to offer, whether you are considering relocating there, planning an investment or beginning higher education. Here is a quick overview …
House Prices 🏠
- Most expensive property: in 2015, a property was up for sale for £1,633,524
- Average house price in Southampton: an overall average price of £215,373
- Cheapest property: Studio flat £76,950.
Property Investment 🏠 🏠
- In the next five years to 2021, prices in the region (wider South England) are forecast to rise by 17%, outperforming Greater and suburban London
- In the past year house prices in Southampton were 6% up on the year before
- The area is attracting overseas investors, with a Bahrain-based bank purpose building student accommodation in Southampton to be ready for 2019.
Economy ££
- With the Port of Southampton set for a £50m investment, new vehicle handling facilities will open more opportunities for vehicle exports
- It is the country’s number one port for vehicle handling, with nearly 1m vehicles passing through in 2015
- A quarter of jobs in the city are in the health and education sector.19% are in property and other business. The third largest employment sector is wholesale and retail, accounting for 16.2% of employed people.
Location and Transport 🚌
- Southampton has good motorway links (the M27 and M3), and a regional Southampton airport (which flies regionally and also to near European destinations)
- The Port of Southampton is the cruise capital of Northern Europe with 1.5 million cruise visitors per year. It is also the terminus for three internal ferry services
- Buses provide the majority of local public transport.
Education 🎓
- There are 79 state schools and also some independents
- Higher education includes several colleges as well as two universities - the University of Southampton and Southampton Solent University
- Students account for 30,000 of the population (out of 237,000).
Environment 🌷
- Southampton attracts over 4m visitors a year with its impressive cultural offerings, from museums, music venues and art galleries
- You can shop until you drop in excellent shopping centres, or enjoy a guided walk
- The greenest city in Southern England, Southampton Common has over 300 acres of flora and fauna and to the west of the city you can find the New Forest.
Trivia 🎬
Finally, did you know …
- The city’s civic centre was the first building in the country to have the name Civic Centre?
- In 1955, American Mr. Birdseye tested herring sticks and cod sticks on shoppers in Southampton and South Wales. The Southampton customers loved the cod sticks, which then became known as fish fingers?
- Sir Tim Berners-Lee – who invented the World Wide Web – works at the University Of Southampton?
