You can bank on the river

The River Thames and well-maintained older buildings add to Henley’s attractions for buyers and renters

For many years Henley-on-Thames’s claim to international fame has been as a centre of excellence for rowing, showcased through its annual regatta. Now this south Oxfordshire town has a new feather in its cap – as the location of the UK’s most expensive home.

Park Place, a 30,000 sq ft (2,787 sq m) country house on a 570 acre (231ha) estate has been sold for £140m. Bought in 2007 for “only” £42m by developer Mike Spink, the 18th-century Grade II-listed mansion was then upgraded, as were other properties in its grounds including a gabled boatyard and 18 tenanted cottages. The sale of the property, just east of Henley, narrowly beats the UK’s previous highest price of £136m, set earlier this year by an apartment at the new-build One Hyde Park in central London.

The sale has also cast a spotlight on a town that has just 12,000 residents but is popular because of its well-preserved historic buildings, some of which date from the 14th century and are fronted by black beams on white façades. Henley is also popular because of its location 35 miles (56km) west of central London and 22miles from Heathrow airport, as well as facilities that include a business school, film studio and several rowing and sailing clubs.

Sellers of more modest houses have seized on the Park Place headlines. However, many property professionals, including Knight Frank estate agent Nicholas Brown, believe it has created a slightly over-optimistic view of what homes in Henley are really worth.

“Sellers read that there’s been a sale at a huge price and think values are soaring across the town. In fact, prices have been stable or slightly dipped over the past couple of years, although demand for good quality homes now is exceeding supply once again,” he says.

Even so, sales data collated by www.home.co.uk show the average Henley home sold for £464,338 in the year to August 2011 – three times the UK national average.

“The high prices are down to there being no area that is particularly poor, ugly or undesirable. Most towns have some streets that people wouldn’t want to buy on, but not Henley,” explains Tracy Kellett, who runs the buying agency BDI Home Finders.

A tour of the town with her is a masterclass in the art of property selling and buying in south-east England.

Near the centre are St Marks Road and St Andrews Road, the two most sought-after addresses for families moving from London, often to get their children into the respected state and private schools around the town. “They’re after the red-brick, double-fronted Victorian-style villas that line these roads. They’re beautiful, well maintained and often come with parking – just what Londoners want, but can’t get in London,” says Kellett, pointing to a six-bedroom example that sold in the summer for its asking price of £1.6m.

In greater demand for buyers with more to spend are the villages dotted around the town. Many of them skirt the river or have uninterrupted views of the Chilterns, a stretch of rolling hills that have been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Such is the compactness of Henley that these are only a five-minute car journey from the historic centre.

The most sought-after village is Hambleden, three miles to the north. Its hub is a core of exquisitely preserved brick and flint cottages that have been used as a “ye olde England” setting for films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Nanny McPhee, and frequently become the sets of TV period dramas. But encircling these cottages are larger country piles, typically around 150 years old, with several acres of land, and selling for upwards of £2.5m.

Lower Shiplake, a couple of miles south of Henley, has more modern houses, surprisingly densely packed and often with New England clapboard façades. They dip down to the Thames with moorings, and, as a result, three- or four-bedroom examples sell for up to £2m.

Unsurprisingly, these villages attract more than their fair share of celebrity attention. TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson and former Olympic rower Sir Matthew Pinsent are among the residents, although the most renowned property is Friar Park, a 120-room neo-gothic mansion plumb in the centre of Henley that was bought by Beatle George Harrison in 1970.

“It’s this combination of a rural feel to the area, a thriving town centre in Henley and extremely good accessibility that is the key to its popularity and its prices. That’s why homes usually go pretty quickly when they’re on sale,” explains Kellett.

The same goes for the lettings market, claims Tanya Blake in the town’s Savills office. She says rents have risen 8 to 10 per cent in a year thanks to demand outstripping supply, and suggests that the kudos of Henley attracts two kinds of client.

“Firstly, there are the international businessmen, often with a family, seconded to work in IT in the Thames Valley. They want something nearby, but with style, so Henley does it for them. Secondly, there are many families moving from London. If they don’t buy straight away they will rent for a year, weighing up the best area for schools and commuting,” she says.

Renting is not a cheap option, with many on corporate allowances paying £3,000 to £10,000 a month for a large property in a leafy location, and yet still the market is strong.

Demand for homes is expected to soar further. Crossrail, a new fast train service, will link central London with Maidenhead – nine miles from Henley – by the end of the decade. “That will make it even more irresistible to Londoners,” insists Kellett.

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Details

● BDI Home Finders www.bdihomefinders.co.uk

● Savills www.savills.com

● Knight Frank www.knightfrank.co.uk

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Buying guide

Pros

● Excellent accessibility – easy train route to London, close to M4 motorway

● Wide range of homes from terraced houses to country estates, although few apartments

● A thriving town centre mixing old world charm with upmarket shopping

Cons

● High house prices in every street and surrounding village

● The town can be very crowded during regatta week and in summer

● Henley’s bridge acts as a bottleneck for town centre traffic

What you can buy for...

£100,000 A boathouse with storage for three boats on the bank of the Thames

£1m A three- or four-bedroom home close to the centre or in a village