Orlando Reid is setting the tone this year for marketing co-living inspired developments with the launch of Lofthaus in central Preston on the 12th January. The city has been proclaimed the number one place to live and work in the Northwest by PwC; in 2023, Money Supermarket ranked Preston first as the best place to raise a family, and it is deemed the top city for entrepreneurship in the Northwest.
Cheshire family-owned development company, Belgravia are very at home in this vibrant region and in touch with what buyers and investors want – driving the initiative of creating community inspired co-living developments for people of all ages, who want an affordable flexible home and a more connected lifestyle with a broad choice of amenities, managed services and first-class technology under one shared roof.
Construction of Lofthaus is scheduled to begin in April and will be one of Belgravia’s most dynamic developments, designed by David Cox Architects to reflect the dramatic local landscape. It will be the tallest residential building with 22 storeys centrally located in the city’s Market Quarter and University Gateway, dramatically mirroring the local landscape’s terrain and form. Lofthaus will offer 307 apartments from studios to one- and two-bedroom flats and penthouses. Studios start at around £99,950 and the most expensive corner penthouse with two bedrooms is available for £435,050. Construction is planned over 18 months and due for completion in Q4 2025.
Preston’s accessibility via road and rail has helped to put it on the property investor’s map. The city is intersected by four motorways – M6, M61, M55, M65. It takes just 40 minutes by car to get to Manchester and Liverpool with rail services taking around 35 minutes. London and Glasgow are on direct train lines taking two hours. For breathtaking scenery and country escapes, The Yorkshire Dales and Lake District are just 45 minutes’ drive away.
Baljit Arora, Managing director at Orlando Reid commented: “Lofthaus will be catering to the escalating demand for co-living spaces in Preston as a place-making community destination in one of the most exciting areas of the city.”
In the last 12 months, Preston has seen property prices increase by 21% according to Zoopla, Dataloft and Land Registry. It’s modern university UCLAN has been ranked top in the Northwest for five consecutive years, and similarly for five years, The Times has named it best for the student experience – it has a student and university staff population of 60,000. Currently, UCLAN is in the 6% of the world’s best universities.
Belgravia’s Chris Newell said: ”Lofthaus reflects the type of development that has long been a successful residential model in the Far East and other major cosmopolitan cities. This is now gaining traction in the UK as millennials, professionals and students embrace a vibrant community lifestyle in a space that can flexibly respond to their changing needs.”
