Norwich was recently called the 'new Notting Hill' but we all knew that already, didn't we, asks Joe Pattinson from Newbury New Homes.
The Home section of The Sunday Times last week included a huge feature on 'The New Notting Hill' which turns out to be Norwich! The newspaper reckons that Norwich could be 'the next big thing'. I guess that many of us have known Norwich to be a beautiful city for many years and given its massive popularity with tourists and shoppers, plenty of others know that too. The growth of coffee shops, artisan stores, galleries and beards is making the city quite hip.
We have seen that the whole of East Anglia is becoming more sought after with Cambridge and its high tech companies and world class colleges leading the way. Since the last nine mile stretch of the A11 was dualled, the towns and villages between Mildenhall and Norwich have become more sought after and the advent of the Northern Distributor Route is making those areas around Norwich in high demand.
Many will be aware of the Barker report into housing which calls for a minimum of 245,000 houses to be built annually in the UK – a target that is being missed by some distance. In the Greater Norwich Area we are beginning to do a bit better but are still not quite there. In 2015/2016 we built 1,164 homes against a target of 1,825 meaning a shortfall of 661. With previous shortfalls this means the target number required for every year up until 2026 will be 2,967, which is unlikely to be met, though at Newbury we are doing our best to help with two more sites (in Barnham Broom and Harleston) coming on stream early next year. Hopefully once the network improvements are finished the London service will become more reliable and get back to being as quick as it was 20 years ago. It might still be too long a daily commute for the hipsters from London but as work patterns change Norwich may well become the 'next big thing' for those people, like my daughter, who only has to go to the office two or three days a week. Working from home will increasingly become the next big thing and should be a serious consideration when choosing your new home. You will need to make sure that you have enough space for the home office. Pop down to Wendover Park at Rackheath and compare the room that you will get in your new Newbury New Home with other new homes. Get Mike to show you the fantastic interactive screen that will take you on a tour and illustrate the exceptional Newbury specification that comes within the price as does a contribution on stamp duty and legal fees.
In the meantime keep an eye out for Julia Roberts.
You can contact Newbury New Homes, sponsors of this columnn, on www.newburynewhomes.co.uk or pop along and see Mike Tomlin at the sales office; call 01603 672636.
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