Kirstie & Phil's Property Guide: Index Property Guide: Yorkshire

Date Published:

18/07/2008

Yorkshire folk are never shy to tell us what a beautiful part of the country it is, but if your knowledge doesn’t extent much beyond Last of the Summer Wine, here’s our Property Guide to North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire, England’s largest county has got a little bit of everything – well, as long as you’re not looking for bustling metropolitan cities. Surprisingly enough, given the sheer size of the place, there are only three towns with over 15,000 inhabitants. Not only that, but the population density is so low that there’s at least a football pitch worth of land per person.

Along the 66 miles of North Yorkshire coastline are the main towns of Scarborough and Whitby, both busy working ports and popular tourist destinations. With Whitby’s association to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the explorer Captain Cook, it’s no wonder that tourists flock to the area in their droves.

But whilst tourists are all well and good when it comes to bringing money into the area, the problem comes when they start to buy up property here. At least 50 per cent of the housing market here in Whitby is made up of second homes for holiday makers. And its popularity means that prices are 15-20 per cent higher than other seaside towns nearby. Not good news if you are a first time buyer trying to steer you way on to the property ladder.

And whilst a view of the sea alone can add up to 20 per cent to the value of your home, seaside towns are by no means the highest priced ones around. Across Yorkshire as a whole, the priciest properties in particular are in the famous golden triangle between Harrogate, York and Leeds city centre.

Compared to properties in North Yorkshire, the average house price for a home in Wetherby, slap bang in the middle of the Yorkshire Golden Triangle, is £67,000 higher - and prices don’t stop there. In the nearby village of Linton, you’ll find roads where you’re likely to spend over a million quid to get a roof over your head. It’s not so much grim, but bling up north.