Anne Bronte adored Scarborough and now home buyers are targeting the town she loved

The literary spotlight is on Scarborough as those who admire the brilliance of Anne Bronte celebrate the bicentenary of her birth and make their way to the seaside resort where she was laid to rest.Anne adored Scarborough and it features in her novels, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey. Back in the mid 1800s, the spa town hailed as Britain’s first seaside resort attracted visitors from all over Britain thanks to its luxury hotels, coastal beauty and what were said to be healing, mineral-rich waters.Anne loved the sea and, suffering from tuberculosis, her last wish was to be back in Scarborough where she spent three days before she passed away in May 1849. She is buried at St Mary’s Church.The Scarborough that captivated Anne continued to thrive until the early 1980s when investment in the area was low, unemployment was high and boarding houses began to convert to HMOs - houses in multiple occupation. The price of package holidays abroad had also plummeted and British resorts were shunned, adding to the decline.Some seaside towns have failed to recover but Scarborough has revived and its property market is an indication of its renewed appeal.

Rising prices

The latest Land Registry figures show that house prices in the Scarborough district, which also includes Whitby, outperformed the Yorkshire average by rising five per cent year-on-year between November 2018 and November 2019.While Whitby is regarded as more fashionable, Scarborough is giving its neighbour a run for its money. Buyers like the fact that house prices here are cheaper than in Whitby, money has been spent on improvng the town, the beaches are beautiful and the cultural offering is excellent.There is a growing artistic community, the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Scarborough spa, now an entertainment and conference venue.For those looking at the bottom end of the housing market, there are studio flats and one-bedroom apartments for just over £40,000. Two-bedroom terraced houses start from £85,000 and two-bedroom flats with a seaview start from about £120,000.

Jobs boost

According to estate agent Phil Fletcher of CPH there is a strong local market, along with a growing number of people from outside who are moving in permanently or buying holiday homes.A predicted boom in jobs could push up prices, though this was thrown into doubt after Sirius Minerals revealed it had been struggling to raise finance for a fertiliser mining project that would create hundreds of jobs in the area. Anglo American has made a rescue bid for Sirius that could see the project revived.“We’ve seen some impact from the setting up of Sirius already but even without it the market is good and after the election result it has gone crazy. Buyers from outside are realising that you can get a lot for your money here,” says Phil Fletcher, who adds that investors have also been lured. “They are renovating buildings that were grotty flats and turning them into very high quality apartments and they are achieving good prices per square foot.”He believes that a proposed upgrade of the A64 from York to Scarborough, known locally as Britain’s longest cul-de-sac, into a full dual carriageway could bring another boost to the housing market.“There are two trains an hour to York and Hull, which is great, but a dual carriageway would make a big difference, especially in summer.”

*Anne Bronte bicentenary events

The Anne Bronte p.200 art exhibition marks the bicentenary of Anne’s birth and is at Woodend gallery, Scarborough, until February 28.

It is based on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Two hundred artists have each taken a page of Anne’s novel as a base for artwork.

*A second Anne Brontë-themed art exhibition by Lindsey Tyson and Gillian Martin, will be at St Mary’s Church in April, as part of the Books by the Beach literature festival.

*The Bronte Parsonage Museum at Haworth has a new exhibition for the bicentenary Anne Bronte: ‘Amid the brave and strong’ runs from today, February 1, until January 1, 2021.