Bath is a beautiful spa city with World Heritage status, lying 97 miles west of London and 11 miles south east of Bristol in the country of Somerset. The city is known for its Roman baths, Georgian architecture and Gothic Bath Abbey.
Although Bath’s therapeutic waters and spas still draw in the crowds – providing a backbone for the city’s buzzing tourist industry – there’s much more to the area than guided tours, Bath buns (a local delicacy) and sweeping crescents.
Although the period properties and Bath stone buildings make for an attractive heritage backdrop, Bath is keen to move forward. The Bath City Riverside Enterprise Area will see over 12 key areas transformed, with plans almost finalised for one of the first regeneration zones – Bath Quay South. This £50 million riverside development will comprise new flats, office space and ‘creative workspace’, indicative of what’s to come for Bath.
Bath Quay South is one regeneration project designed to grow the value of the city’s economy by £1 billion by 2026, creating thousands of new jobs in the process – especially in IT security, tech investment, and creative and digital businesses. In fact, NESTA (the National Endowment for Science and Technology and the Arts) identified Bath as a top ten UK hub of innovation and creativity back in 2010 and since then, the city has truly blossomed. Development of new digital and tech businesses is being fostered by the University of Bath’s Innovation Centre in the city’s heart. It’s where Silicon SouthWest is located (the largest concentration of silicon designers outside of California), and where 65 companies have gained valuable support.
Bath is a very good alternative to London as it bears the same hallmarks – grand architecture, gentrification, good transport connections and employment opportunities. In fact, Knight Frank’s data showed that outside of the Home Counties, Bath – along with Oxford – was the most popular location for Londoners looking to move in 2015.
Works are ongoing to electrify the rail line to London, which will reduce the commute from Bath to the capital to 75 minutes, while access to the employment hubs in Newbury, Swindon and Bristol are already excellent (the latter two are home to Imperial Tobacco, npower, Airbus and Honda).
Bath itself has some high pedigree employers, including Investec Wealth & Investment, the University of Bath, Bath Spa University, Future Publishing, London & Country mortgage brokers, Buro Happold Engineering, Imaginarium Studios, Praxis High Integrity Systems, IPL and AMDOCS.
When it comes to people moving to Bath, relocation agents will be fighting off students and country dwellers looking for a slice of city life as well as London workers ready to hack the commute. Spa towns generally have higher-than-average house prices and are strong enough microclimates to buck national trends. Likewise, rents are also elevated when compared to less prestigious cities.
In terms of rents to pay, home.co.uk has the following average figures for Bath: one-bedroom properties at £927 per calendar month (pcm), two bedrooms at £1,334 pcm, three bedrooms at £1,724 pcm and four bedrooms at £2,229.
Bath spans the Avon Valley, with residential quarters on both sides. Lansdown, Weston, Bathwick and Widcombe are all sought-after. Outlying villages such as Combe Hay, Wellow and Priston are worth researching for more a more rural atmosphere. The most expensive properties in Bath are also some of the most expensive in the UK, with the Grade I listed townhouses on Lansdown Crescent and The Circus the very premium. These are hotly followed by the Grade II listed Georgian townhouses that comprise the Caroline Buildings in the Widcombe part of Bath and the Georgian dwellings at Marlborough Buildings that overlook Royal Crescent Lawn. These addresses easily command £6,000 pcm plus in rent.
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Our relocation agents are currently active in Bath, monitoring the private rental market, sourcing properties close to employment hubs and helping settle home movers. If you have clients relocating to Bath and would like orientation and rental advice, contact Adleo Relocation today.
