Recent data from Zoopla has shown affordable towns are becoming more of a draw for homebuyers, whilst the pandemic ‘move to the country’ trend is slowing down.
With working from home the norm, the pandemic gave people the opportunity to relocate to greener surroundings – and with historically low mortgage rates, they could also upsize, leading to a rapid increase in the number of buyers looking to move to larger, more rural properties.
However, Zoopla’s research suggests: “after a frenetic period for the country market, city living has come back strongly as workers have returned to the office.”
The demand for rural properties has fallen, and is expected to continue to do so, as society makes the shift back into the ‘new normal’ post–pandemic life, with urban living becoming more appealing.
Wellingborough, a quaint market town in North Northamptonshire, is just 65 miles from London and 11 miles from Northampton.
Given the proximity to London, fast connections, local amenities on the doorstep and increased affordability, it is ideally situated to accommodate the rising trend in flexible working – those of us who split our time between working from home and in the office.
Offering more environmentally and economically sustainable new homes – alongside a range of amenities and exceptional green spaces – the 3,000-home Glenvale Park development in Wellingborough has seen the relocation trend first-hand.
Speedy commutes into London
Wellingborough’s mainline train station is less than 5 mins drive from Glenvale Park and has a regular (twice hourly) service south to London St Pancras, with an approximate journey time of 45 minutes as well as regular services north to Leicester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds.
More affordable than the South East
The development offers journey times into London that you’d associate with travel from commuter belt locations, but without the hefty price tag of the South East. Glenvale offers a mix of market-leading properties from national developers and also a mix of affordable and shared ownership properties.
A wide variety of properties
Stonewater is the most recent developer to join Glenvale Park, offering affordable homes, as well as Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy properties on site.
Shared Ownership allows you to buy a percentage of a property, paying a mortgage on the share you own and rent to a housing association on the remainder. Rent to Buy allows customers to rent a home at 80% of the market rent, providing aspiring homeowners the opportunity to save towards a deposit and after five years, buy their home.
Social Value
As part of its social value programme, Glenvale Park will create nearly 900 jobs and apprenticeships during the construction process and an estimated 3,000 longer-term jobs created in the business park. This will be in addition to those generated from the commercial elements of the masterplan which include a community centre, two schools and retail facilities.