Property Finder Wales

SEASIDE PROPERTY – A GREAT INVESTMENT

House prices in seaside towns have risen at a higher rate over the past decade than the rest of the country according to a study carried out by the Halifax.

 Average prices in these towns soared by over 97% in 10 years, a greater rise than the typical 95% increase seen across England and Wales.  Since 2002 prices have more than doubled in around half of the seaside towns in England and Wales, according to the study.

Buyers, increasingly looking for a better quality of life, are choosing to relocate to areas that will hold there value, according to Carol Peett of County Homesearch’s West Wales office.

Prices in Cardigan have risen 148% since 2002 whilst in Pembroke they have risen 135%; Tenby 118% and Fishguard 108%.  Compared to 2000, the price rise is even more dramatic.

The most expensive seaside towns in England and Wales are:

1. 1.                  Salcombe
2. 2.                  Sandbanks
3. 3.                  Aldeburgh
4. 4.                  Padstow
5. 5.                  Dartmouth
6. 6.                  Lyme Regis
7. 7.                  Lymington
8. 8.                  Wadebridge
9. 9.                  Budleigh Salterton
10. 10.              Bigbury on Sea

For a great investment you can buy a 5 bedroom end of terrace house overlooking the beach and harbour at Tenby for £795,000 through Fine and Country or a 2 bedroom terraced house for £199,950 from FBM. 

A 7 bedroom terraced house with Dylan Thomas connections in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire can be purchased for £350,000 through Terry Thomas or a 12 bedroom house with wonderful sea views in Llansteffan for £595,000 through Fine and Country.

A 3 bedroom detached house in St Dogmaels, Ceredigion can be bought for £225,000 through West Wales properties or a 2 bedroom terraced house in Aberporth, Ceredigion for £102,500 through Morgan & Davies.

Good Beach Guide Puts Welsh Bathing Water Quality at Highest for 25 Years

The number of Welsh beaches with excellent bathing water has risen by 20% to its highest number in 25 years according to an environmental charity.  The Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide found 121 of 152 tested met the standard.  Last year 92 Welsh beaches had excellent bathing water quality.   This compares with just 45 out of 110 beaches in Scotland which met the standard and the standard of water in North West England was found to be “worryingly low” by the MCS.

With many people taking staycations this year, the fact that there are so many beaches in Wales with great water quality must be a huge boost for Welsh tourism.

Pembrokeshire has numerous award winning beaches.  Blue Flag Award beaches including Amroth, Broad Haven North, Coppet Hall, Dale, Lydstep, Newgale, Newport, Poppit Sands, Saundersfoot, Tenby Castle, North and South beaches and Whitesands.

The prestigious Blue Flag Award takes into account 30 criteria including bathing water quality and facilities such as public loos and lifeguards.

Green Coast award winning beaches (rural beaches with no facilities) include Abereiddy, Barafundle, Broadhaven South, Caerfai, Caldey Island, Cwm-yr-Eglwys, Druiston, Freshwater East, Marloes, Martins Haven, Penally, West Dale and Manorbier.

A directory of award winning beaches in Pembrokeshire can be found on the  VisitPembrokeshire.com website.

May 5th Marks the Opening of The Wales Coast Path

May 5^th marks the opening of The Wales Coast Path which will provide an uninterrupted 870 miles of stunning coastline for walkers and wildlife lovers to enjoy.

The path encompasses two National Parks, 11 National Nature Reserves and dozens of Sites of Special Scientific Interest, together with spectacular scenery.

The whole path will be accessible to walkers and some sections will also be suitable for cyclists, pushchairs, people with restricted mobility and riders.

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park covers roughly one third of Wales and is Britain’s only coastal national park. 

Three quarters of the UK chough population live in Wales and Ramsey Island off St Davids is the best place to spot them. Ramsey also has the largest population of grey seals in southern Britain..

Skomer island is home to 10,000 pairs of puffins and up to 120,000 pairs of Manx shearwater, one of the largest breeding colonies in the world.

In summer, the protein-rich waters attract bottle-nose dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, whales, orca, sunfish, basking sharks and leatherback turtles which travel from the Caribbean to feed on jellyfish swarms.  In 2009 a superpod of up to 2,000 dolphins were filmed in Pembrokeshire.

Carmarthenshire has a contrasting coastline, with freshwater and salt marshes, sand dunes, pine forests and coastal commons and the Loughor Estuary is a favourite amongst bird watchers.

Gower became the UK’s first area of outstanding natural beauty in 1956. It is renowned for its complex geology in a relatively small area, with one of the most varied coastlines in Britain with carboniferous limestone, miles of sandy beaches, salt marshes and ancient woodlands.

Fishguard to Have Magnificent New Marina

Fishguard is to have a new showpiece 450 berth marina with 250 luxury apartments on an 80 acre site after outline planning permission for the project was approved by Pembrokeshire Council.

Restaurants, cafes and shops will be part of the development and this will prove a huge draw to somewhere which is perhaps best known at present as a place to go to catch the Irish ferry.

A new increased train service to Fishguard was launched last September resulting in five additional services a day, and a new station will be opening in May 2012.

Fishguard is notorious for its brave local ladies, led by Jemima Nicholas, who helped repel the last invasion of Britain by scaring off the French when they attempted to land at Fishguard in 1797.  This event is celebrated on an  internationally famous tapestry which was commissioned by the Fishguard Arts Society to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Last Invasion of Britain in 1997 and is on display at Fishguard Town Hall in The Last Invasion Tapestry Gallery.  The tapestry is 30.4m long by 53cm deep and took four years to complete by seventy-seven local people. It was designed in a similar format and is the same depth as the Bayeux Tapestry which tells the story of the Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066.

Fishguard’s lower harbour was the location for the 1971 film of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood starring Richard Burton and also for Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck.

Worldwide Sporting Events Coming to Pembrokeshire

http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Event/UK-021243173877557  Red Bull have announced that the Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy near St Davids will be the venue for one of the 2012 Red Bull World Series of Cliff Diving Championships.  The divers will be competing from a height of 27 meters and the event takes place on 8^th September.

Along with blockbuster movies being filmed in the county, Pembrokeshire is attracting major sporting events with competitors coming from all over the world.  Last September saw it hosting the Ironman competition which attracted 1,300 competitors from 43 different countries.  Scheduled for Sunday, September 16,  Ironman Wales 2012 will take place in the county of Pembrokeshire in the South West of Wales with 50 qualifying slots allocated for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii 2013.

The start of the race is at South Beach in the seaside village of Tenby. After exiting the waters of Carmarthen Bay after the 3.8km swim, the athletes will take on the challenge of the 180km bike course through the fascinating countryside of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, passing numerous castles and iconic landmarks. The medieval town walls and picturesque beach front provide an impressive backdrop for the concluding marathon through Tenby. 

 Located on Wales’ South West coast, Pembrokeshire is known for its breathtaking landscape of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, featuring miles of sandy beaches and a spectacular coastline.

Time to Buy to Let Again?

The buy to let explosion of the early Noughties appeared to have died a death but its time seems certain to come again if this week’s figures for property rentals are anything to go by. 

Experian’s research shows that the rental market in the UK is flourishing with an additional 58,000 properties being marketed to rent in 2011 compared with to the same period in 2010.  By contrast the number of properties marketed for sale dropped by approximately 12,000 in 2011.

 The volume of properties put up for rent increased every quarter in 2011 when compared to 2010.  A number of seasonal trends were prevalent in both the rental and resale market with the summer months the most popular and, unsurprisingly,  December being the least popular time to market a property

 According to Experian, Wales along with the West Midlands saw the biggest increase in houses to let with a 20% rise in numbers in 2011 compared to 2010.

 With purchase prices low, now may well be the time to invest in buy to let properties. 

Celebrating Welsh Festivals

Perhaps one of the most well known festivals in Wales is the Hay Festival which grew from an idea formed around a kitchen table in 1988 to now being one of Britain’s premier cultural events.  To celebrate its 25th year, the festival has announced its diverse initial line up for the 2012 event.  Controversial writer Salman Rushdie is one of the first names to be announced and he will be discussing his memoirs which document his years in hiding following the fatwa placed on him following the publication of his novel The Satanic Versus in 1988.

Faces from the world of entertainment will include Stephen Fry, comedienne Ruby Wax and Springwatch presenter Kate Humble, who will talk about restoring her farm in Monmouthshire.

They will be joined Birds of a Feather actress Pauline Quirke, Welsh comedian Rob Brydon and The Office star Mackenzie Crook.

Booker Prize-winning novelist Hilary Mantel  will be discussing her new book, along with events featuring fellow Booker winners Ian McEwan and Alan Hollinghurst.

Fantasy writer Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis will also form part of the literary line-up, with children’s authors due to speak include Jacqueline Wilson, David Walliams and Michael Morpurgo.

Musician Max Boyce will continue the celebration of Wales’ rugby Grand Slam exploits.

Musical comedian Tim Minchin, creator of Matilda the Musical, will open the festival with a concert on May 31, with the Hay-on-Wye festival continuing to June 10.

The festival will also mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens with a personal portrait from his great-great-great granddaughter Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, along with biographers Claire Tomalin and Simon Callow.

BBC journalist Andrew Marr will recognise the Diamond Jubilee by examining the Queen and her relationships with prime ministers and subjects.

Comedians to take part in the event include Bill Bailey, Jack Dee and Dylan Moran, while those providing a musical interlude include Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Simon Rattle and New Order frontman Bernard Sumner.

Also scheduled to perform at the showcase will be former Catatonia frontwoman Cerys Matthews, Mercury Prize-winning rapper Speech Debelle and drummer Christian Prommer.

Queen of Shops Mary Portas will appear to discuss her new role as the UK Government’s High Street tsar.

Other wonderful and diverse festivals in Wales include the festival of fish, Pembrokeshire Fish Week, http://www.pembrokeshirefishweek.co.uk/ which begins on June 23rd with a family celebration at Milford Haven Dockside and celebrates everything to do with the sea.  Throughout the week there will be daily activities on and beside the sea, music and dancing and food events with restaurants throughout Pembrokeshire joining in the celebrations allowing people to sample the fabulous local seafood. Celebrity chefs including Bryn Williams and Mitch Tonks will be demonstrating delicious fish and shellfish recipes. There will also be opportunities to enjoy the breathtaking Pembrokeshire coast in guided beach walks, boat trips, island rambles, coastering and snorkel safaris. 

The Laugharne Weekend is an annual festival of literature, music and the arts, held each Spring in the home town of Dylan Thomas in Carmarthenshire.  The 2012 event includes contributions from Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer, Cerys Matthews and Simon Day from The Fast Show.

The Narberth Food Festival 2012 will be held on 22nd and 23rd September and is well worth a visit.  It offers over 50 quality food and drink stalls, chef demonstrations and workshops, plus live entertainment.   http://www.narberthfoodfestival.com/

The 21^st Tenby Arts Festival runs from 22^nd-29^th September and includes a Blues Night, Jazz and even a sandcastle competition on Tenby’s glorious golden sands. http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

 For classical music fans The St Davids Cathedral Music Festival is hard to beat and runs from 27^th May – 8^th June.  http://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk.

 However, the premium festival in Wales has to be the Eisteddfod.  An eclectic mix of old and new, the traditional and the modern, the Eisteddfod is a celebration of Wales, its culture, its language, music, dance and visual arts, and runs from 4^th-11^th August.   http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/

Reasons to Choose West Wales for your Retirement

Many people looking to retire wish to downsize and move to the coast but, unless there is the pull of moving near children and grandchildren, are undecided as to which area to move to.   

Quite apart from the obvious attributes of its wonderful coastline and stunning scenery, West Wales offers benefits which are perhaps not so widely known.

 The cost of prescriptions in England are rising again whilst in Wales there are no prescription charges – all prescriptions are free.

Hospital car parking charges are often a big drain on people’s budgets in England if they have to attend hospital regularly for treatment or to visit friends or family.  In Wales hospital car parking is free.

Community spirit has sadly died a death in many areas with people barely knowing their neighbours and huge anonymous supermarkets replacing the village shops but here in West Wales it is alive and well with many villages having social activities centring around their village halls, churches and chapels and village pubs.   Clubs such as gardening clubs, the WI, book clubs, etc. are thriving and, with the slower pace of life, people know and look after their neighbours.  Farm shops and farmers’ markets abound as do local shops such as butchers, greengrocers, bakers, and ironmongers and shopkeepers know their customers and have the time for conversation whilst serving you.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7b5217aa-abc9-11db-a0ed-0000779e2340.html

 Finally, property is still good value for money in West Wales, particularly in North Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and South Ceredigion.

Pembrokeshire is one of the Best Places to Spend Spring 2012

The National Geographic, one of the world’s best known magazines, has named the Pembrokeshire Coast Path as one of the best places in the world to visit this Spring.

The path, which celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2010, ranks second in the top 10 list alongside Washington DC, Vienna, Istanbul, Chile and South Korea.

The magazine, one of the most read and widely respected in the world, describes the path as a route of “towering headlands blanketed with spring blooms”. 

Pembrokeshire’s latest accolade follows a similar honour last year when the coast path was named one of the greatest hiking trails in the world.  The path appeared alongside Peru’s Inca Trail to Machu Pichu; the Appalachian Trail and the climb up Mount Kilamanjaro.

In 2010 the county’s beaches were also named among the best coastal destinations on the planet.  The area came in joint second behind the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, tying with New Zealand’s Tutakaka Coast, in another list compiled by National Geographic.

Covering almost every type of maritime landscape, from rugged cliff tops and sheltered coves to wide open beaches and winding estuaries, the coast path has something for everyone.  From the path it is possible to spot grey seals, porpoises, dolphins, whales, puffins, choughs, otters, badgers and numerous other species of wildlife.

Pembrokeshire Castle Wins New Lease of Life as a £6m Retreat

A 13^th century castle in Pembrokeshire, damaged in the English Civil War, has been transformed into a luxury retreat. 

Three years ago Keith Griffiths, the Asia and Middle East Chairman of the world’s second largest architectural practice, bought Roch Castle, together with Penrhiw Priory in St Davids and set about transforming them into luxury retreats to rival the hospitality provided by the international Armani and Bulgari hotels but within historic buildings.  However, as his intention was not to detract from each of the properties’ own special and unique existing structure and style he says he developed them as corporate, individual retreats and not as hotels as, to do that, the required changed to the fabric of the buildings to meet current legislation would have damaged their beauty and structure.

According to Mr. Griffiths, “Part of the castle’s medieval stone walls have been left exposed while others have been lime plastered.  Floors have been laid to stone while bedrooms and bathrooms have been fitted to a quality expected from the most exclusive and stylish boutique hotels.  The interiors of Penrhiw are similarly exclusive – the carved pitch and plaster interiors with William de Morgan fireplaces forming the main design theme”. 

Keith Griffiths, who was born and bought up in St Davids, Pembrokeshire where his father was Head of Maths at the local school, also purchased the Tyr y Felin (the windmill) in St Davids (formerly the base for TYF, the adventure activity centre which pioneered coasteering and whose offices are now in the centre of St Davids) on which work begins in May to turn it into a 20 bedroom boutique hotel.  He has also announced plans to develop the governor’s house and grounds of Haverfordwest Castle into a small boutique, restaurant and gallery.