Kettering house prices on the up as town on top 20 property hotspots list

House price rises in Kettering have made the area a property hotspot as values have boomed by 14.8 per cent - more than twice the UK average.

According to figures from Halifax the average price of a house has risen to £285,103, the second highest rise in the East Midlands region and 13th biggest jump across the country.

Offering good value for money and located close enough to trips to London, demand has seen prices rise on average in Kettering by £36,783.

Tom Howling, director of sales and lettings at Sell iT based in Montagu Street, said: "It's because Kettering has been so cheap for so long. We're only an hour from London and prices have gone up to what they should be.

"Rental prices have gone up so that's driving the house prices up. People who are buying are willing to pay more and buyers are having to compete.

"In my opinion we are at a peak. We're seeing three-bed semis on the Ise Lodge going for £240,000, up to £299,000 for a nice one. Last year they were £200,000 to £225,000."

Mortgage adviser Ian Wilson, managing director of The Mortgage Store in Gold Street, has been finding financial products for clients for 25 years and he thinks part of the boom has been driven by the change in home-working due to the Covid pandemic.

He said: "Kettering is a very good commuting area for London. With the pandemic people have been working from home. People don't need to live in London, they might just go into the office once a week.

"There's loads of new builds but there is a shortage of second-hand properties. For every property on the market there are 12 to 15 people wanting to buy it."

Mr Wilson has been dealing with clients from across the country and has noticed that prices are being pushed up because of the shortage.

He said: "We do arrange some buy-to-let mortgages. But it's house prices that have gone up because there's a shortage and because there's a shortage of properties the estate agents push and push the prices up. Sometimes we find that when people put in an offer, when an independent mortgage valuer looks at the property it could be £10,000 less than the price offered."

Top of the national list was Taunton in Somerset, identified as the UK's top house price hotspot with property values increasing at more than three times the national average. London did not appear on the top 20 hotspots list.

Newark topped the East Midlands property price boom with a 20 per cent rise - and the second biggest in the UK.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley said: "As the county town of Somerset, this year's house price winner, Taunton, has a lot to offer home-buyers with its high quality of life and great transport links to major towns and cities across the South West.

"Many of the areas that saw the biggest house price growth over the last year enjoy a combination of greater affordability and space compared to nearby cities.

“Places like Bolton, Newark, Bradford and Hamilton – where there are a broad range of property types and settings – all offer significantly better value than their more metropolitan neighbours.”

In the bottom 20 that experienced price drops, eight were in London.

The average price of a house in the UK in 2021 was £323,355 but the average price of a house in London was an eye-watering £554, 684.

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