Tuesday 13 December 2016

Stamford Semi Detached House Prices rise by 426% in 20 years

The semi-detached house with its bay windows and net curtains has long been ridiculed as an emblem of safe, lacklustre and desperately uncool suburban life; the homes of the likes of Hyacinth Bucket in ‘Keeping up Appearances’ and more latterly Alan Partridge.

However, they could have the last laugh having enjoyed one of the highest price growths of any property type in Stamford, up by an average 426% increase in the last 20 years.

The semi can now laugh in the face of its more upmarket detached counterpart, which saw a rise of only 367% in the same 20-year period.  Looking at smaller properties, flats/apartments rose by 735%, whilst terraced houses only rose 219% (although they were starting from a lower base and demand from buy-to-let landlords has had a big part in driving the values on that type of house (i.e. the price a buy-to-let landlord is prepared to pay is driven by the rent the landlord can achieve).

 
In 1996, the average value of a Stamford semi stood at £52,100...

Today it stands at £274,100


Such is the attractiveness of semi-detached homes, which are cheaper than detached houses but have most of the same benefits for families.  Semi-detached houses were built in their hundreds of thousands by the Victorians and Edwardians between the wars and through to the present day.  Interestingly in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century they often weren’t referred to as semi-detached, but as ‘villas’!

So, whilst Europeans live on top of each other in apartments us Brits chose, in the late Victorian and early Edwardian era, ‘suburban comfort’ and being near (but not too near!) to the neighbours!  I once heard someone say the semi-detached house was a peculiar crossbreed that doesn’t stand on its own - it is inseparable from its neighbour yet somehow still embodies a dream of suburban independence.

 
Over 1 in 3 houses in Stamford is a semi-detached house

There are 3,226 semi-detached properties in Stamford and they represent 35.9% of all the households in Stamford.  Stamford has such a mix of semi-detached properties with the older classic bay fronted semi’s to more modern ones built in the last couple of decades.  Especially with the older ones, the semi offered a hall to provided separation between the reception rooms and privacy for their occupants.  Also the downstairs offered larger rooms to accommodate dining tables, whilst upstairs, bedrooms were smaller, yet cosy.

However, probably the most overlooked aspect of popularity for semi’s is the garden.  The front garden, designed to separate the house from the world, and the back garden designed for private relaxation.  The semi in the suburbs was relaxing, well presented, plumbed and enhanced by a garden, so that when a window was opened the air had a chance of being genuinely fresh… and it’s for all those reasons why 95 semi-detached houses have been sold in Stamford in the last 12 months alone.

Still as popular today as they were with the Victorians all those years ago – some things just stand the test of time!

If you are considering purchasing an investment property, or would like to discuss one you already own, please get in touch with me.  I am more than happy to discuss any property with you.
 
David Crooke
Owner

 

SALES & LETTING AGENTS



Email: david@upp-property.co.uk

Stamford: 01780 484 554      Oakham: 01572 725 825



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