Renovation Property

The new property "hotspots"

Only 2 or 3 years ago the property boom was in full swing and making money from a house or flat was relatively easy.

Homes leapt in value by up to 20% and more a year  - and Britain's hottest property markets were exclusively down south.

For almost a decade  homeowners in commuter-belt towns  enjoyed amazing booms. For example, homes in the Surrey town of Weybridge shot up on average by 175% from £120,000 to £329,000.

But a brief look at the current Top Ten "property hotspots" reveals a completely altered picture.

Today's most promising property market are not Home Counties towns or even a trendy district in a northern city. Rather, an area better known for its mining heritage, the neighbourhoods of Brynmawr and Tredegar in South Wales.

Improved roads and rail links to Cardiff have lured investors and first-time buyers to an area that is now being regenerated with millions of pounds of government cash.
House prices in the area jumped by 50% during 2004, according to research.  

The second most promising area for house prices is Todmorden, near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, followed by Berwickupon-Tweed in Northumberland, Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire and Ilfracombe in Devon.

Todmorden, West Yorkshire
HOUSE prices shot up by 50.7% during 2004 compared with the previous year.

In 2003, the average price for a house in the area stood at £74,469 but leapt to £112,237 a year later - and prices are still climbing. The area is now in the middle of a boom that is being fuelled by commuters from Leeds and Manchester - both cities being just 40 minutes away by train.

Price rises in the two cities mean many workers looking to downshift or expand into the country have been pouring cash into satellite towns such as Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.


Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

THIS pretty town straddling the Scots/English border has been overshadowed by its more popular neighbour Alnwick, which is now extremely expensive.

But refurbishment cash being poured into Berwick's town centre is having the desired effect, and commuters from Newcastle and Edinburgh are catching on.

The average house price in the town rocketed from £78,731 to £116,218 in 2004 and such a dramatic hike in property values is likely to continue.

Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire

PROPERTY prices in Oswaldtwistle have been low for years as the nearby Ribble Valley has gained in popularity. There, the Forest of Bowland and its villages have tempted commuters from Blackburn, Preston and Accrington, leaving more post-industrial areas such as Oswaldtwistle to catch up.

Even though the town is a glorious monument to its Victorian cotton mills heyday, prices in Oswaldtwistle are still low. In 2003, the average house price was £56,682, rising to £83,132 by 2004, which, despite the 46 % rise, still makes it affordable.

However, the area is becoming too expensive for many first-time buyers. 'Most of them have a maximum of £100,000 to spend,' says local agent Carol Cowburn, 'and many decent two and threebedroom houses are already creeping over this threshold.'

Ilfracombe, Devon

DEVON and Cornish seaside towns and villages have enjoyed spectacular price rises, the most famous being Padstow, where chef Rick Stein has helped attract investment. Ilfracombe, near the entrance to the Bristol Channel, had been passed by - relatively speaking.

But in 2004 average house prices in Ilfracombe were £175,747 - up nearly 40 % on the 2003 figure of £127,013.

While south coast holiday destinations such as Salcombe and St Mawes have attracted big money, Ilfracombe's more isolated location on the north-western coast has kept prices low - until now.

The RBS First-Time Buyer Property Index was conducted across the 2,800 postcode areas in Britain. Using property data analysis and external experts including chartered surveyors and local estate agents, it examines the factors affecting potential future house price growth along with the current desirability for first-timers.

The number one hotspot identified by the survey was Openshaw on the outskirts of Manchester, an area on the verge of urban renewal. It currently offers some of the lowest property prices in the index, at £52,690, well under the national average of £183,199.

Openshaw is benefiting from a recent regeneration scheme, and the building of a new hypermarket. It has seen 14 per cent growth in house prices over the past year, almost double the national average of 7.3 per cent.