Berwick-upon-Tweed’s historic buildings and attractive vistas have helped it withstand the effects of the economic downturn

Tucked away in the far north-east corner of England, Berwick-upon-Tweed is famous for being the most northerly town in the country. A mere couple of miles from the Scottish border, it is closer to Edinburgh than its nearest English city, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, while London lies a distant 350 miles to the south. So it is perhaps not surprising that locals are as likely to talk with a Scottish accent as a Northumberland one.

Three years ago, when House & Home last visited the historic market town with its dramatic views down the Northumbrian coast to Bamburgh Castle, the world was a different place. The property market was buoyant and this charming border town, fought over for centuries by the English and Scots before ending up south of the border, was benefiting from the “ripple effect” of a seemingly never-ending property boom. Indeed, property prices in Berwick “increased by around 250 per cent in value between 2000 and 2008”, estimates Neil Thompson, of estate agency Edwin Thompson.

However, gloom has since descended on the property market across the land and towns such as Berwick, far from the mighty southern metropolis, might have been expected to be the first to feel the pinch. In fact, the picture is not as bad as might have expected. “The past three months have seen significantly more transactions, albeit from a low starting point,” says Thompson. “What’s more, prices have held up remarkably well, the market only dropping by 5-7 per cent, nothing like as significantly as it has in other parts of the country, particularly the south. Indeed, a lot of properties are going for almost as much as they would have gone for two to three years ago.”

Part of the reason for local property prices holding up so well is that “they never went through the roof as they did in some parts of the country,” according to Euan Aitchison, who has worked as an estate agent in the town for more than 30 years. He says much of the recent upturn in activity has been generated by people moving north or relocating from other “high price” locations with big catchment areas such as Newcastle-upon-Tyne or Edinburgh.

It is not hard to see the attraction of this historic walled town with its numerous period – largely Georgian and Victorian – properties, dramatic coastal location, low population density and open spaces.

Engineer Brian Lindsay and his wife, Cate, quit the Edinburgh commuter belt in May after finding the house of their dreams – a five-bedroom former manse – in the village of Hutton, a 10-minute drive from Berwick. “We sold and bought at the bottom of the market and while that might not make much sense if you’re downsizing, it can work to your advantage if you’re buying somewhere bigger,” says mother-of-two Cate, who, like her husband, works at Torness Power Station.

“We sold our three-bedroom cottage for just under £250,000 and bought a house nearly twice the size, with a third of an acre of land, for just over £270,00. We could never have afforded somewhere like that in the Edinburgh area. The other thing I like about Berwick is that it might be a medium-sized town with pretty much everything you could need – except a cinema – but the locals are so friendly. It hasn’t lost that ‘small town’ feel. It’s very different from Edinburgh in that respect.”

Graham Hush of estate agency Tyne and Tweed’s Berwick office, who found them the property, says: “The fact is that Berwick-upon-Tweed and the surrounding area offer great value for money and more and more people are cottoning on to that fact.” The entry level price of a property is about £75,000, for a two-bedroom, terraced house while at the top end of the market £750,000 would buy a detached Victorian home with an acre of land and a view over the River Tweed. “And anything with a sea view is being gobbled up. People will pay a premium for that view,” says Aitchison.

Many of the people moving to the area have taken early retirement and are in the 50-plus age group and they, like others, are drawn to Berwick by one factor above all, according to Aitchison. “We’re selling people a lifestyle,” he says. “You come here because you’ve identified it as a nice place to live – that’s how we promote Berwick and it seems to be working.”

Naturally, Berwick’s remoteness from London has its downside. “We tend to get forgotten about, the result being that local roads could be better,” says one local businessman who declined to be named. However, Berwick is blessed with good rail links – to London and Edinburgh in particular – and Newcastle Airport is just an hour’s drive away.

That said, Berwick’s property market has not entirely escaped the long shadow of the recession and neither has the town itself. One 30-home development, Heritage Quay, has been mothballed temporarily because “the developer was terrified that buyers might not be able to obtain the funding and he’d be left with a chunk of unsold properties,” says Thompson. Nevertheless, new homes are on sale at the Grange, in the north of the town, where prices start at £340,000. And while sales are currently “slow”, admits Thompson, he believes the quality of the development will ensure its success in the long term.

Some residents are worried the town centre is looking “tired” – in the words of Elizabeth Middlemiss, owner of the 1 Sallyport boutique hotel. “It could really benefit from an injection of capital,” she says. “We might boast some wonderful period properties but a lot are in need of refurbishment.”

But there are plans for improvement. A National Lottery Fund grant to spruce up the central area has been approved. And work is progressing on The Granary, a £5m project to turn a former quayside granary into a mixed-use centre incorporating a youth hostel, a bistro, an exhibition area and a suite of meeting rooms. “We hope that the project will not only help regenerate the area and attract new life but act as a catalyst to further development,” says Jamie Andrew, chairman of Berwick Preservation Trust, which is behind the project.

For all the green shoots of recovery appearing in the local property market, Aitchison counsels caution in the short term. “I’ve seen prices go up and down and recovery is slower coming this time around,” he says, before adding: “But I still think Berwick offers tremendous growth potential in property values in the medium to longer term.”

..........

Estate agencies
Euan Aitchison, tel: +44 (0)1289305 158; www.euanaitchison.co.uk
Edwin Thompson, tel: +44 (0)1289304 432; www.edwin-thompson.co.uk
Tyne & Tweed, tel: +44 (0)1289331 555; www.tyneandtweed.com

Developments
The Grange, tel: +44 (0)131452 8917; www.hudsonhomes.co.uk