Demand for executive flats in Leicester is set to continue, according to a leading property specialist.

Brendan Walsh – the recently promoted head of real estate team at Shakespeare Martineau in the East Midlands – said big built-to-rent schemes like those going up in Vaughan Way and Bath Lane, will probably be key to the city’s ongoing regeneration.

Speaking at the international MIPIM property conference in Cannes, he said he conversations with colleagues from the US, Morocco, Europe and Scandinavia, suggested movement back into big urban areas had become a global trend – and Leicester was no exception.

MIPIM 2019

Mr Walsh said: “The big flavour of the month at MIPIM, which impacts on East Midlands cities in particular, is the rise of big build-to-rent blocks, without any doubt.

“In the last couple of years there was a big push towards investing in student property, but many developers are now pushing towards build-to-rent in city centres.”

Some Leicester developers have estimated the city has capacity to attract more than £500 million of investment in 3,000 executive flats over the next five-or-so years.

Mr Walsh said: “It does require offices going back into cities to create the jobs, but investors are looking into this market.

“It’s already happened in Germany and the US. Even in London BTR is still growing.”

“It’s a question of have they got places to work. Leicester has always been quite good in making sure that offices are being built, whether that’s for Mattioli Woods coming into New Walk or out on the Waterside.

The £51 million Merlin Works scheme is already being built by Jamie Lewis in the Waterside regeneration area of Leicester

“The city council has been good at facilitating those offices.

“Nottingham, meanwhile, has been a little bit slow on the uptake and although the Inland Revenue are coming in, there’s nothing else coming out of the ground.

“Leicester also has a strong reputation of millennial start-ups, which is great news when it comes to job and business creation, so the potential is certainly there.

“These BTR schemes are all high-rise. To make them work they need to be at least 200 units, and I think the land is there in the city to do it.

“What we won’t get is people living in the cities and commuting out. Another aspect is that as the population ages people will move back into town to be near things like health facilities – you are not going to get that level of support out in the sticks.

“It’s great news for the high street as well. The fact that there is going to be more footfall – whether that’s for leisure facilities, cinemas or bowling – it’s going to help city centres.”

Outside the city centre, he said there seemed to be a move away from building four and five bedroom homes towards putting up starter homes, boosted by help-to-buy.

He said: “There’s still quite a lot of throughput for first time buyers. All around Harborough, for instance, there seems to be a big appetite for land.

“And we’ve not seen any residential deals pulling away because of Brexit.”