Press Release: 00039

10 December 2006

Northern towns even more popular

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

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

With increasing signs that the north of the country is gaining more in popularity with house buyers, Newcastle upon Tyne tops the league table by a clear margin and Scottish towns have taken 12 of the top 50 places.

Newcastle upon Tyne [1] is situated on the north bank of the river Tyne, not to be confused with its cousin Gateshead directly opposite on the other side of the river. The two cities are linked by road, rail and metro bridges, as well as the spectacular tilting Millennium Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. Newcastle city centre is well known for its shops, cafes, bars and nightlife - but Gateshead has the brand new Sage concert hall (unkindly referred to by some as the 'slug') and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, an amazing converted flour mill rivalling London's Tate Modern.

According to Wikipedia, Aberdeen [2], often called The Granite City, is Scotland's third largest city, with a population of approximately 202,370. Aberdeen is the chief commercial centre and seaport in the north-east of Scotland. The city is often referred to as the Oil Capital of Europe thanks to becoming, in the 1970s, a major service base for the extraction of crude oil in the North Sea. It mostly stands between the mouths of the rivers Don and Dee.

Just round the corner from Aberdeen is the City of Inverness [3], self-proclaimed 'Capital of the Highlands'. Traditionally this is still the centre of Scotland's whisky distilling industry, but in today's economy it is modern high-tech business that is the driving force in the area.

Other Scotland places in the top 50 most popular locations are Greenock [8], Stirling [18], Dumfries [20], Shetland [25], Perth [29], Dundee [30], Hawick [36], Kirkintilloch [39], Cupar [45] and Bearsden [46]. Clearly this has been a good month for estate agency in Scotland, including both estate agents as well as solicitors, who often perform the dual functions of legal and estate agency businesses.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - November 2006

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	Newcastle upon Tyne	Tyne & Wear	219
2	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	134
3	Inverness	Highland	105
4	Bath	Somerset	100
5	Taunton	Somerset	98
6	Scarborough	Yorkshire	95
7	Skegness	Lincolnshire	78
8	Greenock	Inverclyde	76
9	Newquay	Cornwall	75
10	Leamington Spa	Warwickshire	73
11	Carlisle	Cumbria	73
12	Blackpool	Lancashire	72
13	Ashington	Northumberland	63
14	Lutterworth	Leicestershire	61
15	Corsham	Wiltshire	61
16	Durham	Durham	60
17	Harrogate	Yorkshire	57
18	Stirling	Stirling	56
19	Jersey	Channel Islands	54
20	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway	54
21	Dereham	Norfolk	52
22	Shrewsbury	Shropshire	51
23	Haverhill	Suffolk	51
24	Harpenden	Hertfordshire	50
25	Shetland	Scottish Islands	50
26	Darlington	Durham	47
27	Bedford	Bedfordshire	46
28	Aberystwyth	Ceredigion	45
29	Perth	Perth & Kinross	45
30	Dundee	Angus	44
31	Great Yarmouth	Norfolk	43
32	St Austell	Cornwall	43
33	Downham Market	Norfolk	43
34	Warminster	Wiltshire	43
35	Burnham-on-Sea	Somerset	42
36	Hawick	Scottish Borders	42
37	Portland	Dorset	41
38	Keswick	Cumbria	41
39	Kirkintilloch	Dunbartonshire	41
40	Crewkerne	Somerset	41
41	Belper	Derbyshire	41
42	Penkridge	Staffordshire	41
43	Stroud	Gloucestershire	40
44	Bude	Cornwall	40
45	Cupar	Fife	40
46	Bearsden	Dunbartonshire	40
47	Stamford	Lincolnshire	40
48	Alderney	Channel Islands	40
49	Chesham	Buckinghamshire	40
50	Leek	Staffordshire	40

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.