Financial Times Europe - 21.03.2020 - 22.03.2020

21 March/22 March 2020 ★ FTWeekend 3

Royal

Pavilion

Brighton

Palace Pier

Sussex

Square

BRIGHTON

Wykeham

Terrace

mapsnews.com/©HERE

Marine Parade

Brighton

UK

West

Street

 m

Coastal erosion

B

righton estate agents are

reporting a sharp fall in view-

ing numbers as the coronavi-

rus spreads. The pandemic

has added uncertainty to a

local property market that has been

slowing for three years. Prices have held

steady—rising1.7percentin2019—but

in the first 10 months of last year, the

number of sales recorded in Brighton

was 31 per cent lower than in the same

periodin2016.

“Last year was probably one of the

worst recent years for vendors,” says

Lisa Saxena, director of Brighton Prop-

ertyHunter.

The bustling seaside city, a little over

an hour’s train ride from London

Bridge, is popular with tourists and

known for its liberal, bohemian spirit

and nightlife; stag and hen parties are

regular sights on West Street in the city

centreatweekends.Propertybuyersare

drawn by its elegant Georgian architec-

ture with generous proportions and

familyfriendlycommunities.

Brighton hosts cultural and sporting

events throughout the spring and sum-

mer, which culminate in August with

the UK’s largest Pride festival, though

thisyearsomemaybecancelledorpost-

poned. The Brighton marathon, which

was to be held next month, has been put

backuntilSeptember,forexample.

Attracting home buyers this year will

be difficult. Many blame the slow mar-

ket on Brighton’s reliance on buyers

from London. There, sales had fallen

since the Brexit referendum in 2016,

In the centre of Brighton, £250,000

willbuy a one-bedroom flat in a con-

verted Georgian house. A smart two-

bedroom flat near Sussex Square on

the seafront can cost about £400,000

— roughly the same asa family home

on the outskirts of the city.

For £1m, Fine and Country is selling a

three-bedroom Gothic-revival house on

Wykeham Terrace.Higher up the mar-

ket, Mishon Mackay is selling a seven-

bedroom Grade II-listed home by the

seafrontonMarineParadefor£2.75m.

In January, prospects looked brighter

for Brighton’s sellers as confidence

returned following the UK general elec-

tion result. The Conservative Party

majoritybroughtcertaintyontheBrexit

question. “We as a company sold more

properties in January than the entire

last quarter of last year, so this year

compared to last has been night and

day,” says Paul Bott, valuations director

atPaulBott&Company.

Now, at the start of what may be

months of economic uncertainty, that

confidenceislikelytovanishonceagain.

i/B U Y I N G G U I D E

An annual rail season ticket to central

London terminals costs £4,208

The average time a property took to sell in

2016 was 33 days; last year that figure rose

to 59 days

Schools include Brighton College,

Roedean School and BHASVIC

What you can buy for...

£500,000 three-bedroom VictorianA

house moments from the city centre

£1m three-bedroom penthouseA

apartment in Brighton Marina

£2m four-bedroom Grade II-listedA

townhouse overlooking Brighton Beach

More atpropertylistings.ft.com

UK propertyBrighton’s

market, which had been

slowing in recent years, has

been dealt a further blow

by the coronavirus.

By ames MacMahonJ

Homes in Brighton are

cheaper than in London

Average property price (’)





  

London

Brighton and Hove

Source: Land Registry

(Above)

Brighton’s

bohemian,

liberal vibe

appeals to

buyers from

London;

(left) a three-

bedroom

terraced house

on Wykeham

Terrace,

£1m through

Fine & Country

Alamy, Irene Todaro

House Home

housing situations because of the disas-

trous disconnect between wages and

average house prices and rents in the

city,”wrotetheBrightonandHoveCom-

munity Land Trust in an open letter to

the council in January. The trust was

attempting to persuade the authority to

prioritise community housing over pri-

vatedevelopments.

For well-paid buyers who work in

London and who are prepared to com-

mute, prices are still more affordable

than the capital — the average property

price in Brighton and nearby Hove is 23

per cent cheaper than in London,

accordingtotheLandRegistry.

Alex Mackay, managing director at

Mishon Mackay, says that Brighton

attractsplentyofyoungcommuters.

“First-time buyers seem to have been

the ones keeping the market moving,”

saysCrombie.

Amy MacGregor is looking for a one-

bedroom flat in Brighton for about

£250,000. “I’m very aware that this

money would buy a lot more in another

area, but I’m not interested in anywhere

else,” says MacGregor, who is a manager

at the Brighton Fringe festival — which

hasbeenpostponed.

political uncertainty has been a factor.

Before the Brexit referendum, the mar-

ket was “quite buoyant”. But in the past

two years, family homes and properties

at the upper end of the market — those

costing more than £500,000 — have

takenlongertosell.

A more pressing concern may be

affordability. In the past 10 years, the

average property price in Brighton has

increased by 69 per cent, to £398,480,

according to Land Registry data com-

piled by Hamptons. According to the

Office for National Statistics, the

median house price in Brighton and

Hove in 2018 was 11.57 times the

median salary of local residents; in

2002, median prices were just 6.37

timeswages.

“There are thousands of individuals

and families trapped in unsustainable

though had rallied in recent months.

Last year, nearly a fifth of all sales in

Brighton went to buyers from the capi-

tal , according to Hamptons. Nathan

Crombie, director at Belvoir, says that

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