Village England will never be the same again. Even during the recession, wealth has quietly seeped into favoured rural enclaves and they have officially become “millionaire villages”. New research based on Land Registry figures, reviewing sales of houses valued at more than £1 million over the past four years, shows that chic rural pockets now have prime value.
“Some have attracted so much wealth that they have become urban in character,” says Lucian Cook, who conducted the research at Savills. “Virginia Water in Surrey, for instance, where there have been 125 sales at more than £1 million, and Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire with 115, are no longer really villages. We see here the rise of the international village, especially in Surrey, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, close to Heathrow airport, good schools and the motorway network.”
Earlier this month Forbes published its new rich list, showing that the world had 214 new billionaires, of whom 32 — three more than last year — were in Britain. “Continued sales during the recession show there is still wealth around and it is being put into safe havens, though perhaps more discreetly than before,” Cook says.
Villages with their own commuter stations are also developing millionaire status as developers knock down and rebuild mini mansions to meet demand.
1 EAST HORSLEY Surrey
Houses sold over £1m: 46
“Beautifully middle class, fullofaccountants, solicitors, City types and internationals,” says SallyBlundell Jones of Strutt & Parker (01483 306565). Many houses built inthe Thirties have been extended, tennis courts and swimming pools added.
Blundell Jones is selling White Cottage, with four bedrooms, at £1.075 million, still in its original between-the-wars state. This is the Surrey affluenza belt, connected tomotorways and London Waterloo by train, yet swaddled in green belt.
Village it may be, but it is also arich man’s playground, with a private sports club, goodschools, riding and golf courses within reach.
2 COOKHAM Windsor and Maidenhead
Houses sold over £1m: 41
The epitome of Englishness, with Thames riverside walks, boating and gastropubs. Artist Stanley Spencer has a dedicated gallery, children’s author Kenneth Grahame invented Toad, and Enid Blyton lived and wrote here. “You pay a premium,” says Tim Hubbard of buying agents Property Vision (01344 651704). Odd Pots, a house with four bedrooms and four reception rooms at Cookham Dean is for sale at £1.295 million through Savills (01753834656).
3 ALDERLEY EDGE Cheshire
Houses sold over £1m: 36
Hello footballers and their wives. Twelve miles from Manchester, the village bristles with chic restaurants, designer shops, speciality food shops and good schools. This is where David and Victoria Beckham first set up home, and it has also been favoured by Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo, Peter Crouch and Andy Cole, as well as Coronation Street stars and television entrepreneur Peter Jones.
Hare Hill, with six bedrooms, offices, an indoor leisure centre, snooker room, cellars, hard tennis court and gardens, is being sold by Strutt & Parker (01244 354880) and Andrew J Novell (01625 585905) at £9.5 million.
4 CHALFONT ST PETER Buckinghamshire
Houses sold over £1m: 35
“This is part of the golden triangle with Chalfont St Giles and Gerrards Cross, where people from Notting Hill and the international crowd like to move to,” says Mark Parkinson of Middleton Advisors. “The great attraction is that you feel you are getting a bit of England without moving to scary deep countryside. It has the perfect mix – Metropolitan tube line, fantastic prep schools, brilliant for Heathrow.”
Woodside Hill, with six bedrooms, one bathroom and a sweeping drive on Chalfont Heights, is being sold byHamptons International (01753 886464) at £1.25 million.
5 PRESTBURY Cheshire
Houses sold over £1m: 32
“This is very top heavy with big houses, to the extent that people have trouble downsizing. It is just very pretty,” says Mark Holden of Savills (01625 417454).
He is selling The Pines, a red-brick executive home, at £1.595 million. There are restaurants, walks in the Peaks and trains into Manchester. Wayne Rooney had a large mansion built by Dawn Ward, wife of former Sheffield United striker Ashley Ward. Other famous residents include Noddy Holder of Slade, football commentator Alan Green, footballers Owen Hargreaves and Robbie Savage, and cricketer Andrew Flintoff.
6 PENN Buckinghamshire
Houses sold over £1m: 24
Drink in that period England feel – cricket on the green, a web of lanes, little shops and pubs. Commuters love it for being just off the M40 and an easy train ride from Beaconsfield to London Marylebone. Slades vintage car garage is handy for a Bentley and the Cottage Bookshop is good for bibliophiles.
“Houses along The Ridge have extraordinary views right across to Surrey and sell for millions,” says Nick Warner of buying agents Prime Purchase (01962 795035). A Twenties mansion, Wellbank House, with five bedrooms, a two-bedroom cottage and tennis court, is being sold by Savills (01494 731952) at £3.35 million.
7 WEST CLANDON Surrey
Houses sold over £1m: 24
Within the Guildford halo, a whisker away from the excellent shopping and top schools in the city. There is little more than a pub and the Palladian mansion Clandon Park, now owned by the National Trust.
Top prices are paid because it has a walk-to-the-station commute with trains to Waterloo, obviating the need to join traffic jams into Guildford. Lime Grove, with five bedrooms and a swimming pool, isbeing sold by Knight Frank (01483 565171) at £1.699 million.
8 STOKE POGES Buckinghamshire
Houses sold over £1m: 23
It hits the sweet spot – a sliver of rural England slipped between the M25, M40 and M4, handy for Heathrow and Ascot. Poet Thomas Gray famously began hisElegy at St Giles church here. Stoke Park, a sumptuous pile, is nowa five-star hotel, golf course andspa, where scenes for Goldfingerand Bridget Jones were filmed.
Savills (01494 731952) isselling Grays Park House, with high security, fenced dog kennels, floodlit trees, a gazebo, eight bedrooms, cinema, staff flat, indoor pool and party room, at £2.795 million.
9 BRAMLEY Surrey
Houses sold over £1m: 22
“The first port of call for young families moving out of London, as ithas an excellent girls’ prep and secondary school,” says Serena Brown of Browns ( 01485 267070).
There are shops, classic car dealers and bistros, and single-track Thorncombe Street is lined with such grand houses that is “probably the most expensive street in Surrey”. A two-bedroom cottage with an Aga is at £850,000 through Hamptons International (01483 502222).
10 WONERSH Surrey
Houses sold over £1m: 21
In Guildford’s silk-lined commuter belt with tile-hung houses, sunken lanes and fabulous heathland. The odd rock star lives here — Bruce Foxton, bass guitarist for the Jam has just sold his house for £1.55 million. “Just beyond the suburbs with a really lovely rural feel. It has been gentrified and re-gentrified many times over,” says James Grillo of Chesterton Humberts (020 7594 4746).
Savills (01483 796820) is selling a four-bedroom house called Lotties, built in the Thirties, at £1.395 million.
Is your village on the rich list?
THE NEXT 10
11 Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire (sales over £1m: 20)
12 Brockenhurst, Hampshire (18)
13 Windlesham, Surrey (18)
14 Bourne End, Buckinghamshire (17)
15 Cuffley, Hertfordshire (17)
16 Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire (17)
17 Seal, Kent (17)
18 Forest Row, East Sussex (16)
19 Goring, Oxfordshire (16)
20 Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire (16)
LONGER LIST
21 Chiddingfold, Surrey (15)
22 Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire (15)
23 Rock, Cornwall (15)
24 Bosham, West Sussex (14)
25 Lower Bourne, Surrey (14)
26 Northaw, Hertfordshire (14)
27 Otford, Kent (14)
28 Peaslake, Surrey (14)
29 Shiplake, Oxfordshire (14)
30 Ponteland, Northumberland (13)
31 Finchampstead, Wokingham (13)
32 Holmbury St Mary, Surrey (13)
33 Stock, Essex (13)
34 Tewin, Hertfordshire (13)
35 Bovingdon, Hertfordshire (12)
36 Cranleigh, Surrey (12)
37 Dorridge, West Midlands (12)
38 Mere, Cheshire (12)
39 West Wittering, West Sussex (12)
40 Ightham, Kent (11)
41 Kingwood, Oxfordshire (11)
42 Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire (11)
43 Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire (11)
44 Shamley Green, Surrey (11)
45 Beaulieu, Hampshire (10)
46 Broadway, Worcestershire (10)
47 Chipperfield, Hertfordshire (10)
48 Claverdon, Warwickshire (10)
49 Compton, Hampshire (10)
50 Dormansland, Surrey (10)
Stoke Park: backdrop to the blockbusters
