Regional towns housing market growing due to working from home

Becky Burke says she misses her colleagues in the office but enjoys the countryside

Working from home is driving up house sales in parts of the West Country, according to estate agents.

Buyers are moving out of cities like London and Bristol to get better value for money, with places like Weston-super-Mare and Swindon being popular.

Becky Burke is an accountant who sold her three bedroom terrace in London for a five-bed detached property in Swindon.

She said: "Covid has provided an opportunity that I wouldn't have had."

She added: "I'm really lucky that my company supported my move - they let me do one day in London and it's an hour on the train so perfectly achievable.

"My company wouldn't have supported this had Covid not happened - but they realised it is feasible."

Ms Burke added that she does find it "quite isolating" sometimes working from home, adding there are definitely "pros and cons".

Josh McHugh said people realise Swindon is a "great place for children to grow up"

Josh McHugh, director at Richard James estate agents in Swindon said: "Within the local area Zoopla are saying that 40% of buyers are coming from out of area and showing that 30% of all searches outside London are searching for Swindon.

"People are realising the value they can get in Swindon, if you're on a Reading, Bristol, London salary but you can live here and get a house that is so much bigger."

He added that there has been a "huge amount" of people from London and other cities looking at property in the area since the pandemic.

David Burns, chair the UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, moved from near Leeds to Swindon because he could work from home.

David Burns relocating to Swindon from near Leeds saying they wanted somewhere "affordable"

He said: "Swindon is not the most exciting town in Britain but its convenient and we wanted to be somewhere which is affordable, decent houses and access to things.

"We do go to nearby towns like Bristol, Reading, Bath a lot."

David Plaister, managing director of David Plaister Ltd, a North Somerset estate agent, said the same thing is happening in Weston-super-Mare with people relocating from Bristol.

He said: "There has been a gradual increase in people coming from Bristol looking for all sorts of reasons.

David Plaister says he's noticed people relocating to the coast from Bristol

"Our stats say we sell eight out of 10 properties to people from Bristol which had been growing pre-Covid, and certainly through and after Covid people are looking for more space to work from home.

"You get more value for money, better space, better accommodation for your square footage of pound and good commuter links."

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