Residents in the UK’s most expensive market town to buy a home have revealed why it is such an attractive place to live. In today’s cost-of-living crisis, house prices are a frustration for many Brits trying to get on the property ladder. But for people who live in a market town that has some of the highest prices in the country, there are clear reasons why people want to move there.
Beaconsfield is located between London and Oxford in the county of Buckinghamshire. Home to a relatively small population of around 12,000 residents, the town was named by Lloyd’s Bank as the most expensive market town for all types of home buyers, with first-time buyers expecting to fork out £280,582 on average, while the average cost of a home overall is a whopping £839,468. Many things can contribute to high house prices in an area, and Beaconsfield residents have shared their thoughts, revealing that the town’s location is a major factor.
One of those locals is Malcom Hann, who was born in Beaconsfield and has lived there for most of his life. “You would have trouble getting a one-bedroom flat for less than a million,” he told the Daily Express. “People who live in Beaconsfield have to be reasonably affluent.”
Malcolm is a member of the Beaconsfield 41 Club, a men’s club that organises social events. Although he says that people don’t join clubs as much as they used to, such a community group is important to people like Malcom. There is a relatively positive sense of community in Beaconsfield, but its most attractive feature, and a major driver of house prices, is its proximity to London.
Malcolm revealed: “You can get to Marylebone Station in 24 minutes. It’s 20 minutes to Heathrow. And there’s nice countryside. You can walk out of your house and in probably in less than a quarter of a mile, you’re in woodland.”
Malcolm said that Beaconsfield has changed considerably over the last few decades. While some parts have been well preserved, the face of the town has changed with new businesses opening up and more houses being built on valuable land where older homes once stood. He explained: “It used to have plenty of shops, but now there are lots of nail bars, Turkish barbers, and places to eat.
“Like any town, the retail shops are diminishing. I suppose I’m part of the problem. If I want something tomorrow, I’ll order it on Amazon.”
Sandy Saunders is a former mayor of Beaconsfield and is now the Chairman of the Beaconsfield Community Association. He has lived in Beaconsfield for more than 60 years and is heavily involved in the local community there.
Speaking to the Daily Express two days after the annual fair, he echoed Malcolm’s statements about Beaconsfield’s great location and discussed the amazing nature on its doorstep.
He said: “We are at the foot of the Chilterns. We’ve got some marvellous woods around the town. And we’ve got some very good associations and societies in the town, particularly the history society and other organisations which help the old people and the young.”
He continued: “We’ve been able to keep the beauty of the old town in London end with all of its Georgian properties. We’ve got a lot of beauty that is being retained by the town in less than half an hour’s walk from the station. We’ve got the motorway, of course, which takes us up the north [of England].
“The situation of travel and getting around, as well as what we’ve got locally, with the houses that were built here. We’ve also got two major supermarkets in the town, which, for a town of our size, is great. And within a mile down the road, we’ve got another one. And of course, Amersham is very close to us as well.”
One of Sandy’s few qualms with the town is its historic planning, which he says cuts some people off from one of the “jewels” of the area. “We have a bypass now where a roundabout was built to help ease the traffic through the centre of the town, but without any thought to the crossroads,” he said.
“It was put in the wrong place. We’ve got a beautiful ancient woodland called Walkwood in the old town. But access is not easy.”
However, Sandy’s general feelings about Beaconsfield are clear. It is a historic town that has so much to offer, from community groups to nature to easy access to the UK’s capital, which starts to paint the picture of why house prices are so high here.