Darlington has certainly been in the news recently with the establishment of “Treasury North” and the town feels vibrant, with confidence in future growth and prosperity.

There can be no doubt that the property market has changed beyond all recognition since the initial lockdown of March 2020. We received enquiries right through lockdown and when we were able to reopen our offices, the demand was incredible. The lockdown has made many people rethink their wants and needs for their home and lifestyle, with so many of us being able to work from home and in fact enjoying doing so. The desire for a better quality of life in a larger home with outside space and within easy reach of countryside or coastline has been voiced by prospective buyers.

Property portals such as OnTheMarket, Rightmove and Zoopla, mortgage lenders and estate agents throughout the UK have all reported increases in demand and rising prices. The RICS says the North East was among the areas experiencing especially strong growth and it has certainly been evident here in Darlington.

There has been belief that the end of the Stamp Duty holiday might see a cooling off of demand throughout the country, but we are not seeing that in Darlington. We believe there is a much bigger picture.

People want to move to Darlington, that is plain to see. There is so much exciting investment happening in the town, with the Government establishing the Darlington Economic Campus, bringing in Treasury staff along with colleagues from other departments such as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department of International Trade and the ONS with around 750 civil service roles. Darlington already has established offices of the Department of Education and has many other large employers including the Student Loan Company, Cummins, EE and Amazon.

Darlington is on the East Coast main railway line and the station is in line for an ambitious £100m redevelopment with three new platforms aimed at bringing more frequent services. The town has excellent connections being close to the A1, Teesside Airport and the Teesport free port.

Within the town centre itself there has been recent development of the Indoor Market with a variety of street food stalls and a licensed bar. There are a growing number of high quality restaurants and bars throughout the town, a cinema complex and the recently refurbished Hippodrome Theatre is staging a wide variety of excellent shows for all tastes.

Here at the Darlington office of JW Wood, we are seeing enquiries at every price level, everything from first time buyers to families looking for their forever home, to investors looking to purchase properties to let. This growing demand is inevitably resulting in increasing house prices and if you are thinking of selling a property, please give us a call to find out how this exciting time for Darlington is affecting the value of your home.