While house prices have boomed across the country over the past decade, new research from the Halifax has shown that attractive, landscaped towns have performed better than most. Properties located in towns which have been awarded gold medals in the RHS? annual ?Britain in Bloom? tend to be worth 23%, or £40,000, more than their regional average, Halifax said. And because homebuyers are paying a premium, prices are rising faster in award-winning towns than the rest of the country. Over the past ten years, medal winners have seen, on average, a 203% increase in prices, compared with a 182% increase in prices in their respective regions, according to this research The premium paid by buyers is largest in Stratford-upon-Avon, where the average house price is 87% above the regional average. Of the towns and cities which won gold medals in 2004, Ilkley in Yorkshire has seen the strongest house price growth, up 32% over the last twelve months. Bath has seen the strongest performance of any of the ?Britain in Bloom? gold medal winners over the last 10 years, during which time prices in the historic city have increased by 286%. Tim Crawford, Group Economist at Halifax Estate Agencies, said: ?The British love affair with attractive towns is as strong as ever, so house buyers are clearly willing to pay a premium to live in picturesque surrounds.? He added: ?Civic pride and a commitment to maintaining an attractive townscape has clearly paid off for the Britain in Bloom winners. House prices in these towns are at a premium to those of their neighbours.?
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Nature and nurture in the gardens of Bramham ParkTim Richardson looks at the innovative and superbly maintained 18th-century landscape garden of Bramham Park in West Yorkshire, home of Nick and Rachel Lane Fox. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
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If the future of Ferrari is electric vehicles, then it is our future tooIt's widely believed that Ferrari will unveil its first electric car this year. It's the signal that the internal combustion era is coming to an end.
