“Schools were very important to us,” says Tanya. “We wanted our children to be
able to walk to school or catch a bus for secondary school. A bus route is
very important. We also wanted to be in a community, have toddler groups for
the children and get involved in local activities.”
Terrace talk: the Lewis family has enjoyed the intimacy of Minchinhampton
(JAY WILLIAMS
Their terrace, made up of Cotswold stone cottages, some big, some small, gave
them all that. “Lots of families with primary school children have moved
here, quite a lot from London and around the South East. It works
brilliantly. There is always someone to say hello to or borrow a saucepan
from.”
Their daughter Ella is now 13, their son Oliver is 10, and they have two
ponies in a rented field, so they want to move house in order to keep the
ponies with them. They are selling their family home, with all its exposed
beams, stone fireplaces, oak floors and coach house, at £560,000 through
Hamptons International (01453 568144). They hope it will be the perfect buy
for a young family in the next wave of people moving out of London,
following their footsteps in swapping a Victorian terrace for a country town
equivalent.
Perhaps this is one reason why terraced houses have survived the squeeze on
incomes and employment surprisingly well. “They are almost worth what they
were at the peak in 2007,” says Sophie Chick of Savills Research, who has
looked at values across the country. “And they have increased by 3.4 per
cent in the last year which, when you consider the average increase across
the regions is 0.8 per cent, means they have significantly outperformed
other houses.”
The country cottage, the dream purchase for rural romancers, has slumped to 7
per cent below peak value, while the detached country house is more than 16
per cent below the peak.
The Lewis family’s terrace in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire
“There has been a trend towards urban living,” says Sophie. “We haven’t seen
buyers moving out of London in the same numbers as before, but when they do
they don’t want to go into deep countryside or village life. They want urban
coffee shops and train stations nearby. They want to cut down on the last
leg of the commute and be closer to their desks. They work flexibly but not
remotely.”
Terraced houses first made a real impact in the 17th century after the Great
Fire of London, when The Rebuilding Act of 1667 specified that houses should
be made of brick rather than timber. Nicholas Barbon was one of the first
developers in London, putting up houses along The Strand and around
Bloomsbury which are still there today. Famous stylists of the type include
John Nash, who created the ornate houses around Regent’s Park.
Famous too were John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger, who made such
an impact on Bath that it is now a World Heritage Site.
In Bath an entire Grade I listed Georgian crescent is currently being restored
at a cost of £60 million by Future Heritage. Nine complete houses have been
sold as shells, while the rest are being turned into luxury three and
four-bedroom apartments, each with a bit of historic façade.
Three years ago Somerset Place provided digs for students at Bath Spa
University. Today the price of the cheapest flat is £1.6 million, through
Savills (01225 474550), and the city is so renowned and desirable that it
will attract international buyers.
“Just under 40 per cent of our buyers have London postcodes in their current
addresses, and education is often the pull, as we have five independent
schools – a lot for a small city,” says Luke Brady of Savills. “People are
choosing town life so that they can be close to restaurants, theatres and
schools but still have countryside on the doorstep. This city has streets
and streets of terraces, starting at £250,000 to £350,000 for Victorian
houses in Oldfield Park, to Georgian terraces at just under £1 million, to a
house in The Circus on the market at £4.5 million.”
So good is the terraced house at economical use of space and at appealing to
all sectors that architects are always trying to reinvent it. In Cheltenham,
a city which thrives on its Regency terraces, developer Lee Bales has
produced an unusual modernist version for sale at £350,000 through Savills
(01242 548000). It is an arrangement of squares and oblongs in battleship
grey.
“It is slotted right into a Regency terrace,” says Lee. “Inside it is open
plan with the kitchen on the ground floors, living room on the first floor
and bedroom and bathroom above that, with a ladder to the roof terrace.” The
second bedroom or workroom is in the basement. “It might suit a professional
couple, with children at one of the private schools who want a crash pad.”