Market town nightmare continuing for first time buyers

25-Jun-2007

An influx of middle class professionals looking for a second property or residential accommodation in market towns across the UK has resulted in a transformation of such areas, a new study has advised, making it even harder for first time buyers looking to purchase their first property.

Earlier this month the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) advised that a "housing nightmare" had already materialised in many rural communities, and a study conducted by a University of Leicester PhD candidate now appears to support such claims.

The change in population has meant that many market towns are now being forced to turn way from agriculture and accommodate the "bustling urban centres" in their midst, researcher Craig Wheway has advised.

"I have looked at the impact middle class incomers - known as 'gentrifiers' - and how market towns have changed into bustling urban centres […] No one has yet linked middle class migration with rapidly rising property prices in market towns," Mr Wheway commented.

Prices in such towns have grown by as much as 18 per cent in the past 12 months alone, the CRC has noted.

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