Cheap but cheerful
A cathedral city with a small market town feel, Ely has a big future reports DEBORAH STONE
BRITAIN’S market towns have long been identified as the perfect base for a balanced work-lifestyle. Not too big, not too small, a good mix of independent shops as well as high-street names and with countryside on their doorsteps, they attract young families as well as downsizers to create thriving communities.
Crucially, for many, their historic market town status guarantees some interesting period homes both in the town and its surrounding villages.
The downside is that market town homes are usually more expensive than those in city suburbs, about £40,000 more in picturesque English villages according to Lloyds Bank.
Last month Lloyds revealed that house prices in market towns have risen by nearly 25 per cent in the past 10 years to an average of £290,775, with home county market town prices rising by an average 60 per cent since 2008.
Until recently that has not been the case in Cambridgeshire’s Ely which still has the feel of a small market town despite being made a cathedral city in the 1970s.
Two-bedroom houses in this rural backwater on the Great Ouse can still be bought from around £210,000, while even the smartest five-bedroom house is likely to be less than the £1million mark at around £800,000.
That is gradually changing, though, with the increase in business parks around Ely supporting the high-tech boom in Cambridge, just 17 miles away. Ellutia UK, for example, a world-leading gas technology firm, has started building a new HQ at
Ely’s Lancaster Way Business Park.
“Thanks to the growth of Cambridge and the development of the East Anglian region, Ely has one of the fastest growing populations in Europe; forecast to reach 27,000 by 2031,” says Richard Booth, residential sales director at East Anglia estate agents Cheffins.
A new bypass, opened last month, is expected to cut traffic in the city centre as well as improving access to nearby villages and reducing journey times to Cambridge.
By rail London King’s Cross is an hour and 10 minutes away on the Fen Line, which runs from King’s Lynn through Ely and Cambridge into London and is being refurbished.
“Cambridge is our London in this area,” explains Booth. “It gives us our own micro-economy, with buyers getting pushed out of Cambridge and turning to Ely as an alternative.
“The beauty of Ely is that it is still a traditional, country market town. We have an excellent market selling everything from continental food to bric-a-brac and dinosaur fossils found in the Fens. Restaurants and bars are improving and a new leisure complex should be a great help to Ely.”
A new North Ely development is expected to bring 3,000 homes and a new country park to the area but Booth says: “Despite the amount of development, Ely has managed to retain its rural charm and is a really relaxed place to live.”
FOR THOSE in search of period or character homes, though, the town and surrounding area is a treasure trove. In Little Downham, three miles from Ely, a converted former Methodist chapel with four double bedrooms and living room downstairs plus a big vaulted kitchen/dining/family room on the first floor is for sale at £535,000 (01353 654900; cheffins.co.uk).
Even more quirky is The Old Mill, known locally as the Pepperpot, which is one of the few remaining original wind-powered pumping engines in the Fens. It was converted into a house about 10 years ago and has four bedrooms and an entrance hall with original stone floors and exposed beams.
On the market for £310,000 through Cheffins, it is only available to cash buyers and is in West Row Fen, three miles from Prickwillow village and nine from Ely.
But in Ely itself there are lovely Edwardian homes including an end-terrace house in Egremont
Street near the cathedral, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two reception rooms, for sale through Cheffins at £398,000.
“Ely is definitely seeing a changing demographic,” says Booth. “Having previously been a very localised market, it has now seen a complete change with buyers being a mixture of those who commute to Cambridge, London commuters, first-time buyers and younger families and also those who have moved to the area for work.
“Ely offers a quieter way of life and more value for money than any of its better-known neighbours. It’s a great place to live for young families or young professionals and it’s slowly becoming more cosmopolitan.”