It might surprise you that it isn’t always the villages
around Warminster or the perceived desirable Warminster streets where properties
sell and let the quickest. Quite often, it’s about access to the best transport
links. I mean, there is a reason why one of the most popular property
programs on television is called Location, Location, Location!
As an agent in Warminster, I am frequently confronted with
queries about the Warminster property market, and most days I am
asked, “What is the best part of Warminster, or best village to live in
these days?”, chiefly from new-comers. Now the answer is different for each person
– a lot depends on the demographics of their family, their age, schooling
requirements and interests etc. Nonetheless, one of the principal necessities
for most tenants and buyers is ease of access to transport links,
including public transport – of which the railways are very important.
Official
figures recently released state that, in total, 522 people jump on a train each
and every day from Warminster Train station. Of those, 124 are season ticket
holders. That’s a lot of money being spent when a season ticket, standard
class, to Bristol is £2,252 a year.
So, if up to £279,250
is being spent on rail season tickets each year from Warminster, those
commuters must have good jobs and incomes to allow them to afford that season
ticket in the first place. That means demand for middle to upper market
properties remains strong in Warminster and the surrounding area and so, in
turn, these are the type of people whom are happy to invest in the Warminster buy
to let market – providing homes for the tenants of Warminster…
The bottom line is that property values in Warminster would be much
lower, by at least 1% to 2%, if it wasn’t for the proximity of the railway
station and the people it serves in the town
And this isn’t a flash in the pan. Rail is becoming
increasingly important as the costs associated with car travel
continue to rise and roads are becoming more and more congested. This has
resulted in a huge surge in rail travel.
Overall usage
of the station at Warminster has increased over the last 20 years. In 1997, a
total of 206,409 people went through the barriers or connected with another
train at the station in that 12-month period. However, in 2016, that figure had
risen to 379,830 people using the station (that’s 1,043 people a day).
The juxtaposition of the property and the train station has
an important effect on the value and saleability of a Warminster property. It
is also significant for tenants - so if you are a Warminster buy to let investor
looking for a property - the distance to and from the railway station
can be extremely significant.
One of the first things house buyers and tenants do
when surfing the web for somewhere to live is find out the proximity of a
property to the train station. That is why Rightmove displays the distance
to the railway station alongside each and every property on their website.
