The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

The Sunday Times December 19, 2021 9

private, understated and

ive than Southwold. It has

charm, but it’s not overly

. It has a lovely village
, with old fishermen’s
es and wonky timber-
d houses. It’s quiet [and
ust two pubs, a café and
t village shop.
s surrounded by the river,
h and sea, so there is little
for development. There
h demand and lack of
y. When the pandemic
k everyone wanted to
second home here. It’s
minantly money from
on. They tell their friends
it, then they tell their
s about it. It’s popular with
e in the media and film.”
tter include the film-maker

Richard Curtis and his partner,

the broadcaster Emma Freud,

and the presenter Simon Mayo.

As for Skegness, prices in the

faded seaside resort have soared

during the pandemic, up about

15 per cent since 2020, estimates

Roderic Turner, a director of

Hunters estate agency in the

town. “It has been a boom.

We’ve had buyers from the home

counties and the Midlands.

They’re finding Suffolk and

Norfolk too expensive, so they

look for the next place on

the map.”

The cheap property there

allows buyers to release equity

and retire by the sea. And it’s not

all honky-tonk and fairground

rides: the natural beauty of

Gibraltar Point National Nature

Reserve, home to seals,

wildflowers and birdlife,

surprises newcomers. Plans

for pedestrianisation of the

promenade, new walking and

cycling paths and a facelift of

the high street bode well. “The

Old Kent Road is improving,”

Turner says.

How else would Monopoly

have changed? In the reimagined

2021 version you’d swap the

racing car for a Tesla, the old

boot for a posh wellington

and the Scottish

terrier for a

whippet. Savills

suggests

that instead of

reading, “You

have won second

prize in a beauty

contest. Collect £10”,

Community Chest cards might

say: “Elected to parish council

via Zoom.” New Chance cards

might read: “Inappropriate

posting on village WhatsApp.

Pay each player £50.” And Go

to Jail would be replaced by:

“Return to London with your tail

between your legs.” The railway

stations would be swapped for

posh country club hangouts

such as Soho House, Gleneagles,

the Newt and the Pig.

“The search for coast and

country have been the big

themes of the housing market

since the inception of the

pandemic,” says Lucian Cook, a

director of residential research

for Savills. Some names are

less familiar. “The village of

Hampton in Arden [average sold

price £645,357], which replaces

Trafalgar Square’s spot on the

board, is a nice reminder that

there are affluent pockets in the

Midlands that are benefiting

from recent trends,” Cook

says. “It’s in the Birmingham

hinterlands, but its success also

reflects the expansion of the

commuter zone further outside

of London, and the race for

space. Monmouth [£306,922]

is another example. People are

now commuting part-time from

there. One of the features of the

market this year is the discovery

of the Welsh countryside.”

As the family sit down to play

Monopoly over the holidays, try

adapting your board with today’s

housing market locations.

AIR TO ST MAWES

aham reimagines the board game Monopoly for the 2021 property market. There are plenty of surprises...

The railway stations

have been swapped

for posh country

club hangouts such

as Soho House,

Gleneagles, the Newt

and the Pig

Clockwise from

left: St Mawes,

Cornwall;

Brockenhurst in

the New Forest;

Stamford,

Lincolnshire;

Skegness, also

in Lincolnshire

Morpeth

(NORTHUMBERLAND)

£242,445

Melrose

(SCOTTISH BORDERS)

£257,056

ACROSS THE BOARD

Location

St Mawes, Cornwall £1,057,353

Walberswick, Suffolk £967,223

Salcombe, Devon £844,838

Burford, Oxfordshire £730,460

Brockenhurst, Hampshire £712,137

Painswick, Gloucestershire £690,044

Sevenoaks, Kent £689,728

Marlow, Buckinghamshire £672,410

Hampton in Arden, West Midlands £645,357

Padstow, Cornwall £534,133

Lewes, East Sussex £506,927

Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk £497,377

Knutsford, Cheshire £484,687

Bruton, Somerset £405,996

Harrogate, North Yorkshire £371,375

Windermere, Cumbria £355,999

Stamford, Lincolnshire £332,638

Monmouth, Monmouthshire £306,922

Melrose, Scottish Borders £257,056

Morpeth, Northumberland £242,445

Porthmadog, Gwynedd £196,280

Skegness, Lincolnshire £181,030

Average house price

Source: Savills

to the River

t the foot

lls

Many are commuting from

Monmouth after discovering

the Welsh countryside

Monmouth

(MONMOUTHSHIRE)

£306,922

‘Acquire

new puppy’

boot for

an

p

Pig