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Hey folks.

I was recently away in Devon, and loved it. I'm now thinking of moving there, and was just wondering what the local housing market was like. I was actually staying in Barnstaple, but stopped off in Exeter and just loved it.

Any ideas on locations, what to look out for, etc much appreciated.

[Anand]

No, but I went to Exeter College!

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Originally Posted by Anand

No, but I went to Exeter College!

Good enough! lol

You don't happen to know the name of the wee pub/bar (kinda punkish/indie crowd) just opposite Exeter Central train station? I went in there a couple of times and was pretty cool.

What did you think of living in Exeter itself?

Thanks

[Doofy]

www.britishpropertysearch.co.uk

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Originally Posted by Doofy

www.britishpropertysearch.co.uk

Cheers, Doofy. That's a good link.

[Doofy]

Also, forgot this one:
http://www.upmystreet.com/

Gives a breakdown by neighbourhood so you know what to expect. For example, mine shows:

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be older affluent professionals. These are known as type 5 in the ACORN classification and 1.85% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Family income: High
Interest in current affairs: High
Housing - with mortgage: Medium
Educated - to degree: High
Couples with children: Medium
Have satellite TV: Medium

These people typically live in villages within commuting distance of major towns, or more rural villages where they choose to retire. They live in large detached houses and most have paid off their mortgage. Households are typically couples over the age of 45. They will often have children who have left home.

They are a highly qualified type and those that are working tend to be high earners in professional and managerial jobs. However, 26% of these people have now retired and are very comfortably off.

Given the nature of where they live and their affluence, car ownership is high. The majority of households have at least two cars, and the main car is usually expensive and bought as new.

These people are financially astute and have the highest uptake of ISAs. They also invest in stocks and shares, high interest accounts and guaranteed income bonds. Their monthly credit card spend is relatively high.

In their leisure time they enjoy golf, hill walking and gardening. Their social life tends to be home based, where they enjoy having a glass of wine rather than going out to restaurants. They like to spend their money on holidays. They travel abroad regularly, either to the Mediterranean or long haul for their main holiday. They also take winter sun and weekend breaks. Many are happy to research and book their holidays online. Indeed the Internet is used by many to make purchases of books and CDs and to research and monitor their financial investments.

These are avid Daily and Sunday Telegraph readers, with readership levels for these journals at twice the national average.

...whereas a friend's shows:

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be middle income, older couples. These are known as type 33 in the ACORN classification and 3.14% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Family income: Medium
Interest in current affairs: Low
Housing - with mortgage: Medium
Educated - to degree: Low
Couples with children: Medium
Have satellite TV: Medium

The majority of people in these areas are couples who have finished bringing up their families, and whose children are now independent. Although 1 in 5 have retired, the rest are still working, which gives them enough money to enjoy life.

Most of these people live in three bedroom detached and semi-detached houses and bungalows. Nearly half of them own their homes outright, and the rest have only a short time to run on the mortgage.

Most people work in lower managerial and supervisory roles. There are also relatively high numbers of women working part-time now that their families have grown up.

With reasonable household incomes, these couples will invest their money wisely in ISAs, stocks, shares and high interest accounts. They usually have one or two cars, and will spend at least £5,000 on the main car.

They enjoy summer and winter holidays, including packaged holidays and weekend breaks in the UK and Europe. They eat out on a regular basis. Many are keen gardeners.

When they are at home they like to watch TV, and many have subscribed to satellite channels. They also like to listen to light classical music. They are not particularly keen readers of newspapers but will tend to choose the Daily Express and Daily Mail.

Knowing these two areas well, I'd say that this is a pretty accurate summary. So it follows that popping area info gained from www.britishpropertysearch.co.uk into www.upmystreet.com should give you a good idea of what's going on anywhere.