Property journalism ~ Aha! It's Norwich
Daily Mail, 13 July 2007
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Just what is it about Norwich? A local wit calls it 'a city the size of a town with a village mentality', and Steve Coogan's alter ego, Alan Partridge (presenter of the 'third best slot' on Radio Norwich), has done little to promote it as a desirable destination.
Yet this is the same Norwich that was once the UK's second city and important for our shoe, clothing, mustard and chocolate industries.
Despite its waterside charms, cobbled streets and Romanesque cathedral, the capital of Norfolk is widely dismissed as an olde worlde, provincial sort of a place.
However, the city council has other ideas and has just launched a spectacular regeneration project.
The plan is to build 33,000 new homes and create 36,000 jobs in the next 15 years. Many will be low-rise new-builds in Bowthorpe, west of the city. But the most ambitious scheme is the resurrection of Norwich's famous riverside on the banks of the River Wensum. Here, rows of 19th-century paper and grain mills and warehouses on derelict brownfield sites are being converted into smart urban living apartments and townhouses.
More than £1 billion has been spent so far, including a £275 million shopping centre at Norwich-on-the-Water. The scheme has helped to turn the city into the UK's eighth most popular shopping destination. Not bad, considering it was 66th before work began.
Retired electronics engineer Bob O'Neill and his wife Sue have just bought a £33,000 townhouse in a Hopkins Homes development at Meridian Place. 'When we saw the city's post-war concrete carbuncles were being replaced by attractive townhouses and conversions, we decided to move here for good,' says Bob.
They sold their house in a Norfolk village to move to their riverside new-build. 'Theatres, cinemas, restaurants and concert halls are within walking distance, and we intend to spend our free time messing about in boats on the Norfolk Broads,' says Bob.
And the city's green credentials are also attractive. A recent online survey voted Norwich the UK's most environmentally-aware city. It has more eco-friendly businesses and shops selling farmhouse and organic foods than any other city. 'We want Norwich to be a second Amsterdam or a Freiberg - Germany's green capital of Europe,' says a city council spokesman.
A new city apartment in Norwich costs £140,000, while couples, starter families and first-timers pay £175,000 to £185,000 for three-bedroom semis on Norwich's outskirts.
Mark Wright, from Norwich estate agent Spicer McColl, says: 'Norwich is becoming distinctly commercial, with smart investors snapping up pretty terraces in the city centre for between £170,000 and £175,000 and letting them to university students for very high returns.'
And Savills' head of new homes (East Anglia), Richard Aldous, says Norwich city centre properties are ideal for semi-retirees and part-time commuters - London is 1hr 40min away by train. 'They've got all the advantages of the capital - shops, entertainment and leisure facilities - and none of the disadvantages such as transport hold-ups, traffic congestion and noise,' he says.
'The city's already seen a 50pc rise in property prices over the past five years and annual capital growth of 10pc a year. When the new-builds have been complated, Norwich will really take off.'
Alan Partridge would be proud.
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