Rich Living
Find out where the rich are moving to and where the hotspots in the region are.
As modern communications and infrastructure expand the catchment areas of the region's cities, big spenders have more choice than ever over where to call home. Sarah Hone reports
When the M6 Toll opens in January it will galvanise a part of the region previously ensnared by nightmare commuting and poor accessibility. Some commentators expect to see a "corridor of wealth" appear as well-heeled Midlanders flock to a new promised land between Cannock and Coleshill, bristling with value for money properties and soon to be within easy reach of Birmingham.
Whether they do or not remains to be seen, but the market for luxury homes in the Midlands remains buoyant and the wealthy are starting to blaze a trail into previously undiscovered markets.
One such treasure trove is the county of Shropshire, the county that inspired AE Housman's "blue remembered hills", where the town of Ludlow is becoming a property investment hotspot. Ian Patrick, manager of estate agents Nock Deighton in Ludlow, describes the town's housing market as "riding on the crest of a wave".
Patrick says the town is crawling with househunters, the majority of them coming from outside the area, drawn to the town for its stunning scenery and mouth-watering collection of gourmet restaurants. The influx of people moving to Ludlow from London and the South East is driving house prices higher as people realise their property fantasies by selling up and discovering how much more they can get for their money in South Shropshire.
Although the gap between house prices in the South East and those in Shropshire is narrowing - the gap has narrowed from 60 per cent to 20 per cent in the last four years - agents throughout Shropshire are reporting a continuously strong demand for homes in the county with Ludlow a marked hotspot.
Shortage of supply has meant that average prices in Shropshire rose last year by up to a third and this September the county recorded the biggest price increases in the UK at 1.8 per cent, according to a study by property research company Hometrack.
"We sell 60 to 70 per cent of our properties - especially at the top of the market - to people who are moving into the area from elsewhere," says Patrick. "People have discovered Ludlow and its popularity is escalating due to the fantastic quality of life it offers".
New technology has provided many people with the opportunity to work from home, removing the necessity to live within an easy commute of a major conurbation. Ludlow's allure lies partly in the fact that it's far enough removed from the rat race to be very desirable yet also within reach of Birmingham and London. Other factors sparking a frenzied interest in the area include the large numbers of people taking early retirement and looking for a countryside idyll in which to enjoy it.
Million pound properties are fairly thin on the ground in the Ludlow area, an indication that the area has yet to hit the dizzy heights of the South. Big Georgian townhouses are on the market for £3600,000-£3700,000 - a snip if you've just sold a modest terrace in Crouch End.
Tight planning regulations have exacerbated Ludlow's short supply of homes. In South Shropshire new building is only permitted in a few "sustainable" developments and there is a ban on barn conversions.
Mark Wiggin, director of Lane Fox, says his firm's experience of selling properties to customers from out of town echoes that of Nock Deighton. He reckons around 65 per cent of buyers these days are from London and the Home Counties.
"Ludlow's got 500 listed buildings and Michelin has titled it the gourmet capital of Europe," enthuses Wiggin. "Those are pretty strong selling points and its inaccessibility also counts very much in its favour. Some people do commute to Birmingham but to be honest it's a pretty tortuous journey."
The reluctance to undertake a lengthy commute each day on the region's notoriously unreliable road and rail system is the main guarantee that the traditional heartland of affluence - the likes of Edgbaston, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and Barnt Green is unlikely to lose its appeal.
In leafy Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks Park and Little Aston Park remain perpetually hot addresses. Michael Quantrill, director of Quantrills in Sutton Coldfield confirms that in this neighbourhood properties over the million pound mark are common and says the firm has three or four on its books at any one time. "There's tremendous demand for these kind of properties," Quantrill says. "For houses in this price bracket the buyers tend to be professionals, industrialists, perhaps footballers. We've got a list of 30 applicants for properties at this price." Quantrills also recently sold a £32m property with seven bedrooms and an indoor swimming pool in Little Aston Park.
Other factors which come into play for wealthy househunters include proximity to the best schools. "Good schools are still a big driver," admits Stuart Flint, a partner at Knight Frank in Birmingham.
"Naturally a lot of the wealthy have families to consider, so an area like Worcester, which has a selection of good comprehensive schools as well as plenty of renowned private schools, is an attractive place to be."
Good schools also conspire to make Solihull one of the most sought-after places for affluent Brummies to live, so much so that the borough has experienced an influx of people from Birmingham and elsewhere that has put great demand upon its education system. Top state schools in the borough include Arden School where 85 per cent of pupils last year gained the benchmark five GCSEs graded A* to C.
Demand for houses based near good schools is not confined to Solihull. In a recent study the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors also identified hotspots in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, Coventry and parts of Birmingham. Harborne, Bournville, Edgbaston and Kings Heath, all near good schools including the King Edward's Foundation of grammars, were popular areas with parents willing to pay up to 16 per cent above the market price for a home. Henley-in-Arden High School in Warwickshire and Kings Norton Girls' School in Birmingham were also high on the hit list and Bishop Vesey's Grammar School makes Sutton Coldfield a magnet for aspiring parents.
Knight Frank's Birmingham office has 30-plus properties in excess of £31m on its books at any one time, according to Flint, and demand for such properties is strong. "We've got over 100 buyers registered on our system and that's just in our Birmingham office. We also have around 50 buyers looking for £32m properties.
"A lot more areas have broken the £31m glass ceiling in the last three years. Our first £31m Edgbaston sale went through three years ago and since then we've sold a dozen for that price and one for £32m. Once the market gains momentum, as it has done, it can surge forward."
Good quality period properties are particularly sought after and Flint estimates that Knight Frank can call on around 20 active purchasers for every property of character and history that comes on the market.
And where there are sought-after period houses you can guarantee the housebuilders are champing at the bit to create new houses in the same neighbourhood. Steve Allkin, group managing director of Henley in Arden-based Chase Homes, concurs. "The areas we look for when we're looking at new sites are the leafy niche areas in prime locations in Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Stratford, Warwickshire and the Cotswolds.
"Broadly speaking, a site has to be commutable from Birmingham but it also has to be an area populated by plenty of other similar high quality properties. Proximity to a train station and good schools are also selling points." But it is to the Cotswolds that Chase is looking for pastures new in which to build its luxury homes. It launched its first Cotswolds office three months ago. "The Cotswolds is an area that's becoming more popular than ever," proclaims Allkin. Chase has pulled off the coup of obtaining planning permission for a site in one of the region's most historic and picturesque villages, the tourist magnet of Broadway, whose Lygon Arms Hotel gave shelter to both Oliver Cromwell and King Charles I in the 17th century.
After two years of intense negotiations with the local community and council Chase has succeeded in obtaining permission to build 78 homes on a site in the picture postcard village. Evesham and Pershore Council took 25 units for use as old people's accommodation leaving Chase with 53 houses to sell. One advert in Country Life later and the company had received 30 reservations without having even put a spade in the ground.
"At the top end of the market," explains Allkins, "a property has to have street appeal, as well as being of the highest quality inside." It's the details that attract the affluent buyer and help them differentiate between new properties.
Which is why Chase lays concrete floors throughout its luxury homes - you don't want to be irked by squeaky floorboards when you've shelled out a million pounds for a brand new house, after all. Chase also builds its ceilings slightly higher than the norm and fits the highest quality bedrooms and kitchens, complete with all appliances. The finishing touch is a landscaped garden embellished with mature trees.
Whether the region's wealthy make a beeline for the hinterland of the M6 Toll remains to be seen but one thing remains clear for the cast of this year's Rich List and their peers - they are still spoilt for choice.
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