Milton Keynes is not just the fastest growing city, but also the number one contributor to job creation, growth and employment in the UK.
This makes MK a top choice for people looking to be in an up-and-coming business hub, with new transport and housing developments in progress.
The demand for occupied floor space in Milton Keynes has increased by 1.1m sq. ft. since 2010, with a 28.6% growth in secondary rents since 2012. As the fastest growing city in the UK, with very little land designated as green belt land, Milton Keynes has an opportunity to grow exponentially.
Finding solutions to the UK housing crisis is now a top government priority, and building more homes is a big part of the solution. Divisional Managing Partner of Planning, David Bainbridge at Bidwells looks at new government housing targets and asks if a standardised approach to house-building can really work in each region of the Golden Triangle.
A National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) report delivered to government in November, highlighted that the corridor connecting Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford has the potential to become the UK’s very own Silicon Valley.
The NIC warns, however, that a lack of sufficient and suitable housing presents a fundamental risk to the corridor’s success: “Without a joined-up plan it will be left behind by its international competitors - a once in-a-generation opportunity to secure the area’s future success”, the report says.
The government appears to have taken this advice on board. Strong support for the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor in the Autumn Budget outlined the ambitious plan to build one million homes in the corridor by 2050, re-open the dormant Varsity Line railway route and support the delivery of an expressway between the UK’s two university cities.
