New Town houses prove a good investment

RUNCORN New Town house prices have more than quadrupled since the 1980s according to research by Halifax.

The bank found that the area’s properties leaped in value by 391% to £121,795 between 1986 and 2016.

However, it ranked behind nearby Warrington, which was one of the best performing new towns, with a 559% increase in house prices.

Halifax said that house prices in the new towns had outperformed the national average for the past decade.

Milton Keynes was the best performing, with prices increasing by nearly a third in the past 10 years.

Telford, Corby, Warrington and Skelmersdale were in second to fourth places.

Runcorn was in 23rd place out of the 25 new towns included in the research.

The study was carried out to celebrate Milton Keynes’s 50th birthday.

Runcorn was designated a new town in 1964 and has since undergone gradual but major transformation with the construction and redevelopment of major estates such as Southgate and Castlefields.

Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said: “Milton Keynes has been the bestperforming of all the new towns created following the Second World War in terms of house price performance since 1986.”

He added: “Many of these new towns are within easy commuting distance of major commercial centres, where property is typically more expensive, particularly in the South East, where the average property price is well below that found in London.

“This makes them a highly popular choice with home buyers, explaining their relatively good house price performance, and this popularity has been particularly notable during the last decade.”