Out west, where the days are longer and the pace of life runs more slowly, finding a dream home is the easy part. Which type of idyll takes your fancy? A white-walled cottage curving around a fisherman’s cove? Or a roomy barn in rolling fields of cattle? How about a rugged stone farmhouse next to a gurgling stream on Dartmoor?
More difficult, however, is making your property work for you financially. The mediocre performance of property prices recently means you might not have the chunk of capital you were expecting from the sale of your old house. And the weak economy means there has never been a better incentive to milk your biggest asset for all it is worth. For these reasons, more and more West Country homeowners are turning the region’s traditional strengths into profitable modern businesses.
“We have seen a significant rise in buyers looking for properties with income,” says William Morrison of Knight Frank’s Exeter office. “Particularly, people want properties with cottages that can be let out. In uncertain times, buyers of all ages want to spread the pain of the mortgage.” Houses with commercial interests attached sometimes attract a premium, but if well managed, they will more than pay this back in the long-term.
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