Rail upgrade will see a rise in Bristol house prices
THE cost of buying a house in parts of Bristol is likely to soar once the main rail line to London is upgraded, according to one property expert.
The £2-billion electrification of the line between the South West and London is expected to be completed by 2017 and will take 20 minutes off the journey time to the capital.
-
According to James Toogood, from property firm Knight Frank, slashing travelling time to one hour and 20 minutes will encourage more people to commute between the two cities.
As a result, the cost of buying a house in some of Bristol's more well-heeled districts, such as Clifton and Cotham, will soar by up to 20 per cent. Other areas close to Temple Meads station, such as Totterdown and Bedminster, are also likely to benefit from the rise in house prices.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
The improved rail service will see trains leave Bristol for London every 15 minutes during peak periods and there are hopes it will lead to improved and closer business links between the two cities.
The new Enterprise Zone, which is being set up around the station, is also expected to benefit from the new improved rail links.
Even before the service is introduced, property prices are expected to increase between five and ten per cent, at a time when the housing market has struggled to recover from the recession.
According to Mr Toogood, buyers looking to move to the Bristol area and commute to London, or vice-versa, often base their property searches around the amount of time they have to spend travelling.
Knight Frank has based its predictions on the assumption that people are willing to travel for up to two hours each way, including the time spent getting from their home to Bristol Temple Meads station.
The rail improvements are expected to open up a much larger search area if it includes commuters willing to drive for up to 40 minutes at the start of their journey to get to the rail station.
Areas in this extended search zone include Clifton, Sneyd Park, Leigh Woods, Redland, Bedminster, Southville, Failand, Wraxall and Wrington Vale.
Mr Toogood said: "Bristol does not attract as many buyers looking to commute to London as Bath does, but the shorter journey times from 2017 will change this.
"If you compare property prices in Bristol with those in London, the appeal of moving here immediately becomes a lot clearer.
"A good example is a property currently on the market on Clare Road in Cotham. It is ideal for professional couples looking to start a family and move out of London and is on the market for £625,000. A similar house in London's Earlsfield or Balham would cost closer to £1 million.
"Similarly, if you compare the cost of buying in the Home Counties around London with that in the Bristol area, it is clear just how much more you get for your money in Bristol.
"For just an extra half an hour or so on the train – once the rail improvements take effect in 2017 – the average price per square foot in the prime Bristol area is just £309, compared to an average of £450 per square foot in the prime Home Counties.
"The more affluent areas of Bristol, including Clifton, Sneyd Park, Leigh Woods and Redland, will certainly prosper from those who require access to London.
"And while the already popular villages around Bristol are likely to become even more desirable for affluent commuters, the areas closer to the rail station, such as Bedminster and Southville, may become more appealing to renters and investors.
"The rail improvements could also increase demand from those who work in Bristol but want to live primarily in London and commute.
"This could generate demand for smaller properties or second homes in Bristol and would affect the market for apartments."
Comments
by rosa_sherwood
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 6:26PM
“Hi, I am a journalism student at UWE. For our latest project we are designing a magazine about Redland. I would like to include a story about this topic, and wondered if anyone would be willing to talk to me about this. Nothing in the magazine will be published anywhere it is simply for our own coursework use. My contact email is rosa.25@hotmail.co.uk, please email me if you are willing to answer a few questions on the subject. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you, Rosa Sherwood”
by BristolDJ
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 10:54AM
“Yes congratulations there Jon Rogers. Pointing out that you have in fact, been involved for longer and therefore are more experienced at acheiving nothing. Not exactly a genius move there. Transport in Bristol is a joke and anyone that has been involved with the organisation should not be voted for. A fresh new approach which lacks incompetence is required. Any previous involvement of the candidates atm shows complete lack of credibility.”
by stockwoodpete
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 12:29AM
“Looks like we'll have to settle for vague and meaningless generalisations then :-(
Spin before substance. So what's new?”
by stockwoodpete
Monday, October 22 2012, 12:35AM
“Jon
I think you missed out on telling us what ambitions you have for a multi-modal transport interchange at Temple Meads. You started, as always, quite positive, then drifted away into the other commonsense goals like a Transport Authority (though presumably just for the Bristol City area, given the past opposition from our neighbours) without actually addressing the question.
So what's your take on the key requirements?. Lets take the basics – smart cards, real-time info, cross-ticketing, as read:
would you require regular day and evening direct access by public transport to all parts of Bristol ?
Would your interchange offer a fully staffed and covered transfer between journey legs?
Would it be on the Hengrove-to-North Fringe BRT route, or just on a one-way limb of the Ashton Vale route?
You must be aware that the LEP's latest launch of proposals for the Enterprise Zone barely mentions an interchange, let alone one worthy of the name.”
by green_man
Sunday, October 21 2012, 10:34PM
“Cllr Rogers - so more of you have been involved in discussions and for longer but stlll no Temple Meads integrated transport hub. What [lack of] achievement.”
by CllrJonRogers
Sunday, October 21 2012, 9:41PM
“@stockwoodpete wrote that Cllr Gary Hopkins was "the only transport lead who ever talked about a Temple Meads Hub as a major interchange"
Er no. Both Cllr Tim Kent and I have also had many discussions about plot 6 and the interchange possibilities by Temple Meads.
I was personally in discussions with Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance TfGBA even before I became the executive member for Transport and Sustainability in March 2009.
It was one of the first things I was briefed on when I took up the post, and I was in contact with TfGBA members at the time.
I share the frustrations of many at the pace of implementation. If I am elected mayor on 15th November I will seek Transport for Bristol powers like those currently enjoyed by Transport for London.
Such powers will allow Bristol to set fares, routes and frequency of service, as well as introducing integrated ticketing, integrated transport and smart cards.
These are long overdue in Bristol. The Prime Minister has said that if Bristol chose to have a mayor that mayor could seek additional powers. If I am mayor, I expect to get those powers for the people of Bristol. Please give me that mandate with your vote.
Dr Jon Rogers Lib Dem Candidate for Bristol Mayor.”
by green_man
Sunday, October 21 2012, 8:53PM
“@gary_hopkins - "You clearly have no conception of the length of time needed to deliver major transport improvements."
By you and the current system Gary!!”
by Mikey_Blake
Saturday, October 20 2012, 10:29AM
“It's the same story with the RAPID TRANSPORT system for Bristol.
It won't ever be RAPID, because all these idiotic Bus Lanes that the Council "experts" are creating cause massive congestion for the motorists, and the RAPID TRANSPORT Buses just get caught in that congestion, so it all actually becomes slower.
The idiotic Bus Lane between the Downs and Westbury-on-Trym only serves to illustrate how idiotic the Council experts are at helping people to make progress (NOT) across the City.
I think my House price has actually gone down by about 50 pence, since they put a sticky-out Bus Stop right outside.”
by lolly60
Saturday, October 20 2012, 10:07AM
“Didn't realise things like this could make house prices go up ,my daughter lives near the new charlaton Hayes and her house has gone up by £30.000 in value”
by stockwoodpete
Friday, October 19 2012, 9:35PM
“Gary:
What you have to say is not only patronising and disappointing, it has no credibility. Why do you bother to hint at major changes if no-one has the slightest intention of making them happen?
Aside from the rail changes, you say nothing at all about a proper interchange, with shared facilities and access from all over Bristol. Nothing about buses beyond a suggestion of cosmetic improvements to the stops. Just a BRT stop. And maybe another vanity project. Nothing new there then.
That is not providing anything that's going to make a substantial difference to public transport in Bristol – the sort of thing that might be good enough stimulate a significant mode switch from private to public transport.
If you can't flesh out these brilliant plans, maybe Tim Kent can? Or Jon Rogers? Or Colin Skellet?
But we both know there's nothing to be provided by any of the LibDems, or the LEP. At best, it's an illusion.”