Home to traditional city York and spa town Harrogate, North Yorkshire is becoming a place to move to. With rolling countryside, dramatic moors and craggy coastline, it’s picturesque – plus, it’s still relatively easy to get back to the capital from.
‘Lots of people commute to London for two or three days a week,’ says Nick Talbot from Carter Jonas’s Harrogate office, explaining that a train from York takes just two hours.
‘Plus there’s Sheffield (45 mins), Leeds (1hr15) and Bradford (1hr) nearby.’
Mr Talbot says that although lots of buyers are often looking to ‘return to their roots’ by moving to the region, more and more people are being drawn to the Yorkshire ‘way of life’.
‘There’s beautiful countryside, good schools and successful commercial centres,’ he says.
The best private establishments tend to fall in and around York with St Peter’s and Bootham in the city centre and Ampleforth just outside.
Ben Pridden from Savills’ York office says that where as parents used to send children to board at the area’s schools, they often now move north with them.
‘A lot of people want to see cricket matches on a Wednesday afternoon and a lot more of their children at the weekends,’ he says.
The most popular areas to live are in York itself and the Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty called the Howardian Hills that lies a 40 minute drive from the city’s station.
Properties tend to range from £500,00 for a four bedroom village home to £700,000-£1 million for larger properties and upwards from £1 million for a country house.
Ben reveals that for the price of a house in Fulham, a buyer could get a nice family house in Yorkshire plus a flat in London – and have money left over for school fees.
‘Houses come at an incredible discount compared to those in London,’ he says.
For a real bargain though, he suggests looking at The Wolds.
‘The Wolds are up and coming,’ he says. ‘They’re very pretty and good value – and just as convenient for York.’
