Press Release: 00037

6 October 2006

University towns gain in popularity

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

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index (Towns), September 2006

What is it about Bridlington that makes it so popular with house hunters? Having been featured in the Top 50 list for several months, this Yorkshire seaside resort has finally made it to the number one spot, ahead of Aberdeen, Weymouth and Newquay. With its miles of beautiful beaches and award winning promenades and gardens, it has obvious attractions to holiday makers; it also offers a range of all-weather activities and is this year's venue for the World Masters darts championship. The likely explanation is that interest is coming from visitors who see Bridlington as a comfortable place to retire, but reports elsewhere suggest that both second home and buy-to-let investors are increasingly driving the market in coastal areas. Once again, seaside towns account for a large proportion of moving home enquiries, with 17 of the top 50 towns being popular coastal and holiday resorts.

Accrington may not be an obvious location for a holiday, but it certainly appeals to house hunters that pushed it all the way up to No.23 this month. A former mill town in Lancashire, it is perhaps more widely recognised for its football club Accrington Stanley, winners of the Nationwide Conference Championship last season and now promoted to the Football League. On a sadder note, the town is also remembered for the Accrington 'Pals', volunteers who recruited in the early months of the First World War and later suffered massive losses on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Another factor that links the most popular towns is higher education, with 5 of the top 10 having colleges and universities. It is widely reported that parents are increasingly buying homes for their student offspring to occupy during term time, either as an investment or simply due to lack of suitable rental accommodation, and it is possibly no coincidence that the start of the new academic year has seen more buying activity in these locations.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - September 2006

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	Bridlington	Yorkshire	72
2	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	65
3	Weymouth	Dorset	62
4	Newquay	Cornwall	61
5	Ipswich	Suffolk	56
6	Kingston upon Thames	Greater London	51
7	Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	46
8	Worcester	Worcestershire	45
9	Inverness	Highland	44
10	Scarborough	Yorkshire	42
11	Truro	Cornwall	42
12	Durham	Durham	41
13	Jersey	Channel Islands	40
14	Isles of Scilly	Cornwall	40
15	Isle of Anglesey	Gwynedd	40
16	Blackpool	Lancashire	37
17	Eastbourne	Sussex	35
18	Milton Keynes	Buckinghamshire	34
19	Brighton	Sussex	33
20	Exmouth	Devon	33
21	Falkirk	Falkirk	32
22	Cromer	Norfolk	32
23	Accrington	Lancashire	32
24	Winchester	Hampshire	31
25	Penzance	Cornwall	31
26	Guildford	Surrey	31
27	Selby	Yorkshire	31
28	Sittingbourne	Kent	31
29	Rayleigh	Essex	31
30	Stirling	Stirling	30
31	Romsey	Hampshire	30
32	Brentwood	Essex	30
33	Hertford	Hertfordshire	30
34	Bridport	Dorset	30
35	Elgin	Moray	30
36	Burnham-on-Sea	Somerset	30
37	Wroxham	Norfolk	30
38	Whitchurch	Shropshire	30
39	Margate	Kent	30
40	Liskeard	Cornwall	30
41	Wadebridge	Cornwall	30
42	Mold	Flintshire	30
43	Farnham	Surrey	30
44	Kyle of Lochalsh	Highland	30
45	Northampton	Northamptonshire	24
46	Bath	Somerset	23
47	Poole	Dorset	23
48	Fareham	Hampshire	23
49	Wirral	Merseyside	23
50	Lancaster	Lancashire	23

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.