Press Release: 00031

6 November 2006

Newquay crests the waves

Source: http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk

Newquay (1) is once again the most popular location for moving home and has now featured in the Top 10 of the UK Property Shop 'Moving Location Index' for each of the last seven months. Maybe it has something to do with being "Britain's favourite family holiday" destination, according to the Newquay Guide; or "the capital of England's surfing scene with 11 beaches stretching over seven miles of golden sand" as described on the Surf Newquay website. And it's not all beaches either with numerous bars, nightclubs, restaurants and famous zoo. Newquay Cornwall International Airport is one of the fastest growing regional airports in the UK, so this may also be adding to its attraction, with new services linking with London Gatwick, London Stansted, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds/Bradford, Dublin and Cardiff.

Seaside resorts such as Weymouth (8) and St Ives (14) generally still continue to prove popular, taking 16 of the top 50 places, not counting the islands of Jersey (23), Arran (25), Scilly (26) and Lewis (36). The Isles of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides, or Western Isles, is one of the more remote corners of the British Isles and is very well regarded for its culture, heritage and scenery, as well as its friendly and welcoming inhabitants, so it's easy to understand why more people should want to go and live there too.

Londonderry (21), or Derry as it is popularly known by most of those living there, is Northern Ireland's second largest city after Belfast. Located on the banks of the River Foyle and very close to County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, Derry dates as far back as the 6th Century, but really started to develop in the 1600s. It now has a thriving economy, including high-tech and other modern industries, making it an attractive place to want to move to.

Ashby de la Zouch (37), is a name to conjure with, but locals just call it Ashby. The name 'Ashby' possibly dates from Viking times, but the 'de la Zouch' originates from the period after the Norman Conquest, when the town was given by Henry II to the Zouche family from Brittany. It boasts a 15th Century castle and a historic Elizabethan pub, The Bull's Head. Located in the geographical centre of England, it is an attractive and popular market town, with a high level of employment and good transport links.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - October 2006

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	Newquay	Cornwall	101
2	Penzance	Cornwall	91
3	Hastings	Sussex	91
4	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	81
5	Newcastle upon Tyne	Tyne & Wear	79
6	Norwich	Norfolk	76
7	New Milton	Hampshire	70
8	Weymouth	Dorset	65
9	Falmouth	Cornwall	63
10	Skegness	Lincolnshire	63
11	Newbury	Berkshire	62
12	Dunfermline	Fife	61
13	Tavistock	Devon	60
14	St Ives	Cornwall	60
15	Inverness	Highland	58
16	Barnsley	Yorkshire	57
17	Scarborough	Yorkshire	55
18	Ipswich	Suffolk	55
19	Banbury	Oxfordshire	54
20	Kendal	Cumbria	53
21	Londonderry	County Londonderry	53
22	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Staffordshire	51
23	Jersey	Channel Islands	51
24	Alnwick	Northumberland	51
25	Isle of Arran	Scottish Islands	50
26	Isles of Scilly	Cornwall	50
27	Perth	Perth & Kinross	45
28	St Austell	Cornwall	44
29	Dorchester	Dorset	43
30	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway	43
31	Malvern	Worcestershire	41
32	Carnoustie	Angus	41
33	Wantage	Oxfordshire	41
34	Llandudno	Gwynedd	41
35	Clevedon	Somerset	40
36	Isle of Lewis	Scottish Islands	40
37	Ashby de la Zouch	Leicestershire	40
38	Pickering	Yorkshire	40
39	Shoreham-by-Sea	Sussex	40
40	Chester	Cheshire	38
41	Yeovil	Somerset	35
42	Huddersfield	Yorkshire	35
43	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire	35
44	Tewkesbury	Gloucestershire	35
45	Taunton	Somerset	34
46	Folkestone	Kent	34
47	Bexhill-on-Sea	Sussex	33
48	Bridlington	Yorkshire	33
49	Porthcawl	Bridgend	33
50	Morecambe	Lancashire	33

Note for Editors about the Moving Location Index and UK Property Shop

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index is based on data from a sample of people looking to buy a property and using the website to register their property search requirements with estate agents in each town. From this data a score is calculated according to the number who are considering either moving within the town where they live, or away from their home town and into another town. The Moving Location Index is not a measure of quality, simply an indication of the relative proportion of home buyers wishing to move into or out of a town, which is influenced by many factors.

The UK Property Shop website www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk was launched in 1999 and is a popular source of information for people looking to buy, sell, rent or let residential property in the UK. It also publishes the National Directory of Estate Agents, the most complete and up to date register of all UK estate agents and letting agents.