Scrapping of Severn tolls sparks house price boom
HOUSES near the Severn Bridge have rocketed in value since the end of the tolls, figures released yesterday suggest.
Areas in Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent have seen house prices rise by more than 10% compared to a year ago, according to UK Government figures.
Since December 17, 2018, motorists no longer have to stop and pay to enter Wales via the M48 Severn Bridge and the newly-named Prince of Wales bridge.
In anticipation of the scrapping of the tolls, houses prices in areas began to rise in earnest last year, with average house sales in Monmouthshire shooting up by 13.2%.
But anecdotal evidence suggests the trend started further than that.
Since news of plans to abolish the tolls were announced in July 2017, estate agents in the area reported an influx of potential buyers from across the Severn Estuary.
Now the first figures released since the crossings became free officially show the trend is set to continue.
Overall, house price growth Wales outstripped England – growing by by 5.2% in 2018 to reach an average price of £162,000, according to gigures from the ONS, the Land Registry and other bodies.
Across Wales it was Torfaen that saw the biggest growth – with house prices in December 2018 up 12% compared to December 2017.
Newport houses prices also rose on average by 10.6%, compared to 10.1% in Blaenau Gwent.
Elsewhere, in the capital houses prices grew by only 3% – less than Powys, Wrexham, and the Isle of Anglesey.
In Newport, estate agent Aaron Rayner, of Freelancer Lets and Sales, said he had “heard more Bristol accents than Welsh” since the initial announcement that the Severn Bridge tolls would be scrapped.
Mr Rayner said house viewings have steadily increased, with the majority of people coming from across the border.
“Since they looked at removing the tolls completely it’s been a steady growth. People have slowly moved out to the area and have realised they can live here and more and more people are telling each other,” he said.
“We’re still getting a lot of viewings and it’s almost always from people around the Bristol area. I find they commute and seem to be working in Bristol, but they won’t necessarily live there, they will be in the outskirts.
“I think people are surprised – Newport doesn’t have the best reputation but when they come here and see certain parts they realise it’s quite nice.”
He added: “It might drive [people from Newport] out of Newport, but at the end of the day it’s bringing in large investment in so I can’t see it causing a problem just yet.”
House prices across Blaenau Gwent are also shooting up.
Jeanne Fry-Thomas, director of estate agents Bidmead Cook, believes this is due to the “ripple effect” as people from the Newport area move away to escape rising prices.
Speaking about the increase, she said: “I’m not surprised – there’s just not enough property here, it’s sell, sell, sell. It’s supply and demand and the demand is there.
“It’s got something to do with the ripple-out effect. All along the M4 corridor – Monmouthshire, Chepstow – the prices have gone up.
“The people who originally lived there are thinking they can’t afford to buy so they move to Crosskeys or Rogiet, so those prices pick up and it’s made a massive difference as those people come to look at other areas.
“People have Googled things like cheapest places to live and we come up, so they arrive here and it’s actually quite nice. We don’t have any heavy industry any more so there’s lots of greenery and a lot of reformed land.”
“People are also still thinking about what will happen with Brexit. If you sell a property in somewhere like Abergavenny with a mortgage and don’t have a huge amount of money, you can buy here without needing a mortgage.”
In comparison, Tony Filice, spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, suggested a slower growth in areas like Cardiff is down to one thing – a lack of confidence surrounding Brexit and the economy.
He said: “In other parts of Wales, take Cardiff for example, increases have now plateaued and mainly because of confidence issues and Brexit’s impact on the economy.
“In real terms, Cardiff is buzzing as a city. In January we had an incredible number of viewings, evaluations and sales so we were very, very busy.”
Mr Filice, also director of Kelvin Francis, added: “The last 12, 18 months has seen the removal of the tolls on the Severn bridge. People are saving £1,200 on travel costs and if you think average house prices are £320,000 in Bristol, compared to £137,000 in Wales, it’s great value for money.
“We have had a influx of population to the south-east Wales area but there is also the fact that these areas are playing catch-up.
“Look, for example, over the last two years and the changes in house prices. In Newport you could buy a three-bed terrace house for £110,000 or £115,000 and now it’s £130,000.
“It’s still a good place to get on the property ladder.”