Booming Beverley has highest price growth

Beverley has always been popular with home buyers. It is a beautiful market town with historic architecture, a Minster and easy access to both countryside and coast.

People who live there love it so much they like to stay and those from surrounding areas aspire to move there.

Now word is spreading and it is being targeted by retirees and families from further afield.

It’s also been singled out by upmarket retailers, such as Jo Malone, Mint Velvet and The White Company, which have all opened up there recently.

This sought-after status and increasing gentrification is helping to push up property values.

According to Rightmove, Beverley saw the highest growth in asking prices in Yorkshire over the past year.

The average asking price is now £255,080 compared to £236,288 a year ago. This is an eight per cent rise and more than double the Yorkshire average increase.

Residents Neil and Rachel McCracken, who live in the town and have a holiday let, Beverley Minster House, say: “It is a lovely place to live. A lot of higher end brands have opened shops here and there are great pubs and restaurants. It’s like a mini York.”

Estate agent Mark Woolley agrees and says the reason for the leap in house prices is supply and demand

“Demand remains strong as it has done for many years but the supply of quality, new properties coming to the market has reduced as people either don’t want to leave Beverley or they are staying put and awaiting the outcome of Brexit before making their next move.

He adds that most of the buyers are local, there is a contingent from Hull and also from York.

“We are noticing a trend of downsizers looking to locate themselves centrally within the town as a way of embracing the vibrant lifestyle on offer.

“Beverley is also regarded as a fantastic environment in which to raise a family so family home buyers still form a large sector of the market.

“We are also seeing quite a few people retiring here from York because homes here are less expensive. We also get retirees moving from West Yorkshire.”

A big lure for all is that Beverley is compact with many amenities in walking distance and the schools are good.

“It is the “Jewel in the crown of the East Riding” and the schools and amenities here are excellent. There is also a cinema, a theatre and, the amazing Minster and St Mary’s Church.

“On top of this there is a market, tons of pubs, restaurants and delis and we have great independent shops. You can also cycle out onto the Wolds from here,” says Richard Welpton, of Quick and Clarke estate agents.

As for transport links, York and the Bridlington coast are a 45 minute drive away. Hull is a half hour drive or a 14 minute train journey away as Beverley is on the Hull to Scarborough railway line.

Seen as a safe bet for buyers, house price rises mean that first-time buyers now have to pay least £125,000 for a home while the average family-size house is about £250,000.

Richard Welpton says that the best areas are to the north from The Bar into Molescroft, to the west of the town centre and towards the Westwood, a large area of common land, which is also home to Beverley’s racecourse.

The issue of supply and demand is being eased slightly by development.

“We are seeing developers beginning work on numerous sites to the south of the town centre where commuter routes to Hull, The A63 and M62 motorway network, are part of the appeal,” says Mark Woolley.