With its favourable climate, great transport links and lovely scenery, Somerset has long attracted homebuyers. Located in the south-west of England, major towns include Bath Bridgewater, Yeovil, Newbury, Broomfield, Glastonbury, Weston-Super-Mare and the county town of Taunton. The population of Somerset was 529,972 in 2011, an increase of 31,879 over ten years. It has generally low unemployment and a good mix of independent, grammar and state schools (242 state primary schools and 44 state secondary schools). Universities include Bath University and Bath Spa University. The average house price value in April 2017 was £222,819, a rise of 7.2% over the previous twelve months.
Somerset has excellent transport links in part due to its location as a passing point for those travelling to and from Devon and Cornwall to London, Wales and the North of England. There are direct rail services further south-west as well as to London Waterloo and London Paddington. The nearest airport is Bristol Airport. For road travel, the M5 runs south to Exeter and north towards Birmingham while just north of Somerset is the M4.
Many of the major housebuilders, such as Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Crest Nicholson have new build property developments in Somerset. There are also plans to build 17,000 new homes in Taunton Deane. In an around Taunton is also a good place to find retirement developments. As always, home ownership for many new homes is possible thanks to the Help to Buy scheme.
For buy to let investors, there are particularly good opportunities in the university city of Bath. In Glastonbury, synonymous with its music festival, large apartments and houses can be a good rental investment. At the same time, it’s worth checking out places like Wells where, with not too many rental options already, it offers a good potential return for anyone able to purchase a buy to let mortgage.