Spotlight on the property market in Great Ayton now one of the best places to live in Yorkshire

Helen Davies, The Times and Sunday Times Property Editor, says: “The list is necessarily subjective. Leave it just to statistics and you will never capture the spirit of a place.

“For that, you need to visit to take into account that ‘you have to be here’ feeling. Is the pub dog-friendly, for example? Can you live car-free? What are the schools and houses like? Is it multicultural and multigenerational, and can it offer a good way of life to lots of different sorts of people?”

The conclusion of the Sunday Times “scout” was this: “With Teesside in one direction, the Yorkshire coast in the other and the mini-mountain of Roseberry Topping on the doorstep, there’s something for everyone in this often-overlooked village.”

Earning a place on the “Best Places to Live” list is an accolade that has put Great Ayton on the map for would-be home buyers from all over the country but those searching in this location will find slim pickings with many properties going to “best and final offers”.

Vanessa Wilkinson of Roseberry Newhouse estate agents says: “Since the pandemic we have seen an influx of buyers with young families moving to be near parents and parents moving up to be near their families. We have also seen more buyers from the south and from cities like Manchester who can now work from home.”

She adds: “Properties tend to sell quickly because Great Ayton is such a good place to live. It’s very pretty with views of Roseberry Topping and the River Leven running through it.

“The village is also very well served with a Co-op and great independent pubs, cafes and shops, including Petch Butchers, renowned for its pork pies, and Suggitts ice creams.”

The road links are also excellent with Saltburn a 20 minute drive away and Whitby a 40 minute car journey. With easy access to the A19 and A1, Newcastle is an hour’s drive and Leeds an hour and a half. The nearest mainline train station is in nearby Middlesbrough.

Unlike some villages in the Dales, where young families are scarce, there is a mix of age groups in Great Ayton, thanks in part to its primary school rated “good” and the high school, a 10 minute drive away in Stokesley.

Roseberry Newhouse says the lack of homes for sale and high demand has seen property values rise by 10 per cent over the past year.

Zoopla reports that the average value in the village is £237,882 with detached homes an average £501,550; semi-detached, £213,920; terraced, £184,548 and flats, £168,000.

“It has everything you could need and, compared to places in the Dales and the coastal towns, it has been a bit of a hidden gem, like a lot of villages in this area,” says Laura Bragg of Bridgfords estate agents. "Now people are starting to realise how much Great Ayton has to offer. Almost 50 per cent of enquiries are from out of the area.”

The least expensive home for sale in the village at the moment is £180,000. Prices are lower in surrounding villages such as Ormesby and Marton and those with bigger budgets who fail to find what they want in “Ayton”, can widen the net and look at desirable Stokesley and Great Broughton.