The ripple effect . . . The London Commuter Belt has probably shot its bolt. With 1.2 million raised from the sale of a house in London people can buy a 300,000 pad in town and still leave 900,000, enough to buy an awful lot of house in many parts. The more distant shires have retained their own integrity and identity, and have their own local economy and locally driven property market.
People come because it is so unspoilt.
Those who used to like Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex will happily travel the extra half-hour to west Dorset, to get peace and quiet. Up to 80 per cent of his list of potential buyers come from outside the area. Shropshire Many house-hunters are being seduced by the Shropshire Hills and the exquisite timbered and Georgian houses in Ludlow and Shrewsbury. In the past year he reckons prices have gone up by 20 to 25 per cent. He is selling a smart cottage with two acres, a stream, paddock and stables converted to an office for 325,000.