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OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS
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Benefactor saves golf course from developers
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SOLD Tunbridge Wells Golf Course has been bought by an unidentified resident ending years of speculation about possible site development. Full story page 4.
Rocketing price rises see more areas become £500,000 housing hotspots By Richard Williams MORE areas in and around Tunbridge Wells have seen the average house price now pass the half a million mark as house prices continue to rise, according to one of the area’s leading estate agents. Rocketing property prices across the UK mean 15 per cent of homes sold in the country now fetch more than £500,000 for the first time this year, with Kent a particular hotspot, according to Savills. Analysis by the estate agent has shown that the number of £500,000-plus locations increased by 50 per cent during the pandemic – rising from 874 council wards across the UK in 2019 to 1,312 in 2021. The South East in particular saw a 74 per cent rise in half a million pound
purchases, reflecting a surge in house prices across more rural parts of the country.
‘Too many young people are having to move away from the area because they cannot afford to live here’ The number of wards where the average property now fetches over £500,000 in Kent has increased from 39 to 68, say Savills – and many of these were in Tunbridge Wells. While average house prices in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells exceeded £500,000 before the pandemic, online estate agent Rightmove, now puts the
average price for a property in the town at around £525,622. Price rises now mean properties in wards outside the town centre are also now fetching more than half a million. According to Savills, Benenden & Cranbrook, Broadwater, Wadhurst, Hawkhurst & Sandhurst as well as Culverden near to the town centre, now all have average house prices exceeding £500,000. Over the East Sussex border, homes in Crowborough West are also on average now fetching more than half a million pounds for the first time. Natasha Selbie, director in the residential sales team at Savills in
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