Down-to-earth town that buyers love
Skipton’s was the top Yorkshire location in Rightmove’s Happy at Home index and confirmed why buyers are making a beeline for this market town. Sharon Dale reports.
THE borough of Richmond in London wasrevealedasthe happiest place to live in Britain in Rightmove’s 12th annual Happy at Home Index, the first time an area from London has taken the number one spot, while Skipton topped the chart in Yorkshire by coming sixth, though in 2020 it was placed second.
There is no doubt that upmarket Richmond upon Thames has much to commend it but the average house price in this area is £952,305 and the average monthly rent is £3,148 and while it has access to green spaces via Bushy and Richmond Royal Parks, it has not got the vast swathes of countryside that allow a true escape from the hustle and bustle.
You could say Skipton, where the average house price is £259,692, was robbed but who cares?
Certainly not those who live there and love it and definitely not estate agents who are rarely short of would-be buyers, some local with a significant contingent from further afield.
“We have people from other parts of the country looking to buy here. We have people who are walkers and who want to be close to the Dales, those who want to be here because of the transport links, those who want to downsize here and others who want to retire here and those who want to get their children into the catchment area for the two grammar schools here.
“There’s a long list and lots of reasons why Skipton is so popular,” says Mark Kane, manager of Dacre, Son & Hartley’s Skipton office.
This is a market town that has it all including an attractive high street topped by the magnificent Skipton castle and with plenty of shops still open, including high street chains and independents, along with the very popular “proper open markets” on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday selling everything from fresh produce to clothing and hardware.
There’s also a Tesco and a Morrisons supermarket and an M&S food store and there are also plenty of places to eat ranging from Alexander’s at the top end to Weatherspoons plus proper pubs like the Woolly Sheep that sells Timothy Taylor’s.
Aireville Park, which hosts weekend parkruns, is a favourite with young and old and at the top of it there’s a leisure centre with a swimming pool and the town also has rugby, football and tennis clubs.
You can access walks on the canal and in Skipton Castle woods though the real lure for those who love the great outdoors are that the Yorkshire Dales are a few minutes drive away.
The clincher for many who think of moving here is the railway station with services to Leeds and Bradford one way plus and into the Dales and over to Carlisle via the Ribblehead viaduct the other.
There is also a direct train to London at 6am that can have you in the capital at 9am.
“Along with families moving here for the schools, we get a lot of people from outside the area who are holidaying in the Dales who then buy a holiday home in the area.
“They like it so much that they buy a bigger place and make a permanent move here and we get a lot of elderly people who retire here because Skipton has everything,” says Mark.
He adds that many buyers prefer the town to Ilkley or Harrogate because it is much more “down to earth”.
There is a wide variety of property types including terraced housing, apartments, semis, detached homes and new builds.
The latter have proliferated more recently as Skipton’s kudos has become more apparent.
You can buy a decent two-bedroom terraced house for around £170,000, a semi for £320,000 while the most expensive properties in the sought-after Raikes area can fetch almost £1m.
According to Mark Kane, those who can’t afford to get on the bottom rung of the ladder will buy in less expensive areas nearby.
These include Earby and Barnoldswick, where starting prices for a terraced house are around £120,000, with the ambition of growing their equity in the house which then allows them to move to Skipton.
The only issue can be getting in and out of the town at the weekends when the roads clog up and the streets in the centre are packed, which is one of the reasons living in a village just outside Skipton is a popular choice.
Estate agent Helen Carter, head of Dale Eddison’s Skipton branch says that Gargrave is a good choice not least because it too has a railway station just one stop up from Skipton offering the services to Leeds, Bradford and London.
Draughton too is very popular and Helen says: “It’s a five minute drive from Skipton and there aren’t any amenities but it’s a lovely place with beautiful cottages. It’s a place where people stay long term and upsize and downsize there.”
New on the market in Draughton with Dale Eddison is the Old Post Office.
The historic property dates back to the 1700s and has two reception rooms, four bedrooms and two bathrooms plus land with development potential subject to planning permission.
There’s also an annexe and beautiful gardens.
The house has a guide price of £795,000.
Helen also recommends Cononley, a well served village that is also on the line to Leeds, along with East and West Marton, Cracoe, Lothersdale and Bradley.