Back in Business
Once-powerful Halifax has reinvented itself to become a favourite with first-time buyers, says Fred Redwood
ask property experts to predict what are going to be tomor - row’s boom towns and you can bet they will name the trendy east coast resorts of Margate and southend, or Reading which is becoming increasingly popular with commuters as the opening of Crossrail beckons.
You wouldn’t expect them to mention Halifax, a West Yorkshire woollen town, best known for being the backdrop for grim, sixties kitchen- sink dramas such as This sporting Life. Yet the Calderdale town could be about to play a vital role in the economic recovery of the area dubbed the Northern Powerhouse.
‘This is a period of transformation for our town,’ says Barry Collins, the cabinet member for regeneration and economic development on Calderdale Council. ‘We have wonderful buildings, a highly skilled workforce and, being close to the M62, great road links. In fact, everything new businesses need.’ The newly restored Piece Hall is at the centre of the town’s regeneration.
In the 18th century , this enormous Grade-I listed building was a centre for trading. With an open central court - yard, there used to be 315 rooms used for trading ‘pieces’ of cloth.
Now, at a cost of £19 million, the courtyard has been transformed into a piazza with new lighting , seating and water features. The trading units are shops, cafes and offices. A further £40 million has been spent on a new library and archive, a fascinating industrial museum and a state -of-theart meeting place for young people called Orange Box which includes a rooftop skate park , recording studios, an art room and much more.
There are also road improvements planned that should stimulate the local economy by making it easier to get around the town centre and reducing congestion on the A629.
Cynics will say that this is all too little, too late. After all, in the recession, unemployment in Y orkshire surged further and faster than in any other part of the country , more than doubling between the start of 2008 and its mid-2011 peak.
At one stage, house prices lost 16 per cent of their value in little over a year. Yet Collins maintains the regeneration is already taking root.
‘since Piece Hall opened we have been inundated with queries from small and medium sized businesses,’ he says.
As an example of one that has flourished in Halifax he points to Covea, number one in property and liability insurance in France, which generated ¤16.4 billionlast year.
This year the company has expanded its workforce by nearly a half to 730 when it moved from the town centre to Dean Clough, the arts and business complex which was once the world’s biggest carpet factory.
Already the buy-to - let market is proving to be buoyant as a result of the upturn in business.
RAYWITHeRs, CeO of investment agency , Property Frontiers, says ‘With more peo - ple looking than properties available, even the least trendy flats aren ’t staying on the market for more than a few weeks.
‘The local employers driving the influx of working renters into Halifax include a huge Lloyds Bank back office, the Halifax, the Nestle factory and a range of companies based in nearby business parks.’
House prices in Halifax are enough to make youngsters in the south of england struggling to get on the property ladder green with envy.
someone with DIY skills could pick up a doer-upper for £55,000.
About £ 75,000 buys a sturdy, stone terraced house that is ‘ good to go’. Aspirational locals usually move out to suburbs such as skircoat Green or to the villages such as Northowram, Ripponden and Greetland, all within six miles of the centre.
Hunters estate agents recently sold a five - bedroom farmhouse, with three garages, three acres and a holiday home in the grounds for £699,000 — the price of a two-bedroom flat in a small terraced house in Hackney, east London.
Overall, prices in Halifax over the past year were 4 per cent up on the previ - ous year and 11 percent up on the 2014 level, according to Rightmove. However , Halifax is about more than profit and percentages.
‘We have friendly people and beautiful countryside,’ says Jamie k ennerdale, lettings manager with Reeds Rains. ‘ There is walking, riding, cycling and narrow-boating. We often see people returning to Halifax after working away. soon more outsiders are going to cotton on to what we have to offer.’