All that glitters... Yorkshire’s new golden triangle

Yorkshire’s golden triangle between north Leeds, Harrogate and York is a well-known hotspot for those who aspire to have it all.

It offers beautiful homes, good schools, excellent transport links and the best shopping along with pretty countryside. Little wonder that it is a haven for the affluent and boasts the best addresses. The most expensive streets in the county are here. Topping the list are Rutland Drive in Harrogate, where average prices are £1.1m, and Wigton Lane in north Leeds, where a house costs around £1 million.

But thanks to the upgraded A1M and the ability to work at home via the internet, this perfect piece of property geometry has a rival.

Private client partner and property expert at Langleys solicitors in York, Giles Scott, says that a glittering new triangle has emerged in the area north of York, between the A19 and A64.

Its points are at Thirsk, York and Helmsley, taking in the Howardian hills and the market town of Easingwold.

Giles, who has lived in the area for the past 38 years, says: “People working in Leeds are realising that the area is accessible and offers better value than places like Harrogate. We are getting a lot of buyers from outside Yorkshire too.

“The ability to work at home has helped and schools are also a big pull. People move to be close for Ampleforth, of course, but there are also good state schools in the area.

“The other trend I’ve seen is for multi-generational living where parents and children will join together to buy a large house up here.”

Tim Blenkin, of Blenkin and Co. in York, agrees though he questions the geometry.

“It seems every estate agent has his or her own golden triangle. Talk to the Harrogate agents and they will point to the area just east of the Dales including Harrogate, Ripon to the north and Wetherby to the south, with the A1 as the eastern boundary.

“Over to the other side of the A1 is an area that is less well known and certainly less expensive. If you want postcodes, we are talking YO60, YO61 and YO62. I would say that it is a golden trapezium, but that does not trip off the tongue quite as well as a triangle.

“It has Easingwold at the south west corner, travelling up A19 to Thirsk, across to Pickering via Helmsley, then traversing south to Malton and down the A64 as far as Welburn and back via Sheriff Hutton and Stillington to Easingwold.”

Tim, who lives in the trapezium, says it is 24 carat gold and reels off a list of what it has to offer:

“It has glorious countryside, the Howardian Hills; lovely estate villages like Coxwold, Hovingham and Terrington; market towns including Malton, Thirsk, Easingwold and Helmsley; mainline rail connections at Thirsk and Malton; excellent state schools at Ryedale and Easingwold, and for those so inclined, a leading private school at Ampleforth.

“Access to York is, at most, half an hour from any corner of the patch.”

Demand is high, despite a sluggish property market, but choice is limited. Homes here are cherished and the owners tend to stay put for a long time

Philip Procter, of Chesterton Humberts in York, says that the area has always been desirable.

“It’s epicentre is Ampleforth and Hovingham and Ampleforth school is a big draw. People thinking of moving here from the south think ‘where can I go?’ and remember where they went to school.

“The Howardian Hills, so called as they are close to Castle Howard, are very popular and 
are a lot more accessible than you think.

“You can drop down onto the A64 and travel into York and Leeds or you can go over via Thirsk and onto the A1.”

He reminds us of another sobriquet coined in the 1980s. “The Howardian Hills was called the Cotswolds of the North and they are. The combination of stone architecture and the countryside is unbeatable.”