Salisbury recovering well

UNTIL the Russian spy poisoning back in March, nobody would have considered Salisbury anything but a pleasant cathedral city with pretty period properties, an ancient charter market and good rail services to London.

Then the Novichok attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter

Yulia changed all that. Residents were left fearful, frustrated and angry. But not as cross as when reports emerged about falling property prices.

“Salisbury is not in the doldrums,” says Fred Cook, head of Strutt & Parker estate agency in Salisbury. “It’s a hard market for everybody at the moment, not just Salisbury. Yes, the Novichok incident certainly made things harder in an already strained set of circumstances but I think we have still got a credible, working, market.”

One person who does think the Novichok “incident” has shaken things up in the Wiltshire city, though, is Lloyd Slater, whose Grade II De Vaux House near the cathedral is for sale.

“The events that began with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter have darkened perceptions of Salisbury,” says Slater. “Is this deserved? Only in part.”

He explains: “The great tourist set pieces such as the cathedral and Stonehenge were still attracting visitors but the city was resting on

The Wiltshire city is on its way back after two Russians were the targets of a deadly nerve agent attack in March. DEBORAH STONE sees the antidote in action

its laurels in many ways. It needed something to shatter its complacency.

“While no one would have anticipated – or welcomed – the incidents of the past few months they have certainly done the trick. Because now that it has to,

Salisbury is changing for the better.

“Central, regional and local government are galvanised as never before to ensure Salisbury’s recovery. Plans have just been announced for a £70million overhaul of one of the city’s central shopping areas. The historic High Street is also due for a re-vamp.

“Meanwhile, a £7m fund is helping local businesses in the short term. The Dean and Chapter of Salisbury’s cathedral are also doing their bit.”

This includes an Advent Festival of Light in Cathedral Close, where residents are illuminating their historic houses just a few hundred yards from Slater’s De Vaux House which is in the surrounding Liberty of the Close.

The house is one of the oldest in Salisbury and was originally part of The College of De Valle, dating from 1260. Immaculately restored, it has a Gothic arched front door, a carved Jacobean fireplace and carved medieval door as well as a kitchen/ breakfast room with granite work surfaces and integrated Neff appliances.

THERE’S a 17th-century window beside the staircase and a Tudor window in the master bedroom’s ensuite bathroom that overlooks the walled back garden. Its £1.5m price tag (01722 344011; struttandparker.com) reflects its size – there are six bedrooms, four bathrooms and three reception rooms – as well as its location beside the cathedral, 10 minutes from the city centre.

The average price of a threebedroom townhouse in a soughtafter street is £500,000 to £600,000, with people drawn to Salisbury’s excellent state and private schools as well as its cultural facilities, good range of shops and independent cafes and restaurants.

“Award-winning Cafe Diwali, for example, presents Indian home cooking in a contemporary setting while Victorian Fisherton Mill combines a two-storey art and craft gallery with a cafe/restaurant,” says Slater who believes the Novichok incident has also affected the sense of community: “It has always been a friendly city but recent events have brought an increased sense of unity.”

“Just within easy enough reach of London to commute, Salisbury has always had a sense of place. Now it has a stronger sense of community as well.”

As for property prices, well they have always been better value than similar cities such as Bath, St

Albans or nearby Winchester – only 20 minutes closer to London by train – where house prices are considerably higher says Cook.

“If you are prepared to consider a balance between minutes on a train versus pounds shillings and pence for your home you’ll do very well in Salisbury,” he concludes.