For those of us living in the country, we may take for granted the clean fresh air and beautiful countryside around us, but at times like these, I bet we are all very appreciative of what it has to offer us during this period of lockdown.

Surge in Demand
When this time of uncertainty has passed, a likely outcome is that we will see an even greater surge of buyers wanting to move to the country due to Covid 19. As well-established countryside estate agents we have witnessed young families making lifestyle decisions to raise their children in a more rural environment for many years, but I believe that this could now be accelerated and give a real boost for the rural property market.

Real Term Value
After all, we have not seen the peaks and troughs that London has had over the last 10 years and our market has remained relatively flat in real terms. When there has been better economic news the country market nudges up a few percentage points on buyer confidence, then an election is announced or Brexit kicks in and confidence wanes a touch with sentiment.

It will take a few months of trading to establish whether there has been any effect on country property prices in real terms, but perhaps we may a see a rural market that has a little more of a swing in its step?

CS May 2020

The area that Rural View operate in (Wiltshire, North Dorset & South Somerset) is often chosen as a place to live by equestrian enthusiasts, after all it has beautiful rolling countryside with a superb network of bridleways. From a property perspective, however, these are not the only things that a buyer might look for.

How we value Equestrian Property

When we value equestrian property it’s the sum of the parts that count and this greatly helps to build the overall value. The house itself is almost the straightforward part as there will be local comparable sales that we can look at. The land element is very important, not just the acreage size, but is it sloping or flat, is the soil free draining or heavy clay? Are there footpaths running through the fields? In general terms the first 5 acres are the most valuable to any property, not just equestrian and, depending on location, these first 5 acres could add up to £125,000 – £200,000 to the value of the whole property. The remaining acreage will be valued as a mixture of amenity / agricultural value depending on its total size.

The Value of Equestrian Facilities

Other things to look at are the number of loose boxes and quality of the stabling, yard / wash down and feed areas. Are there other barns for hay / storage, is there a manege, ample room for parking and turning or grooms’ accommodation? All these factors coupled with an excellent view and ability to ride out from the yard go towards making the perfect equestrian home.
You don’t necessarily need to have a £1m plus budget to secure your dream equestrian property. There are cottages or smaller modern houses with a few acres that will come onto the market that are ideally suited to equestrian buyers, but you might end up having to add facilities or buy a bit further west in order to get exactly what you are after within your chosen budget.

Clubs and Riding Centres within reach of Tisbury

Within our area there are excellent local Pony Clubs such as The Wilton, South & West Wilts, Portman or Blackmore & Sparkford Vale branches, who organise many events for children and affiliated through local hunts fun rides for adults. There are a good variety of livery and riding stables locally including SMS Equestrian, Grovely Riding Centre, Manor Farm Teffont and Little Wishford Equestrian & Warminster Saddle Club. Within 20 miles of Tisbury there are also 10 dedicated equestrian centres where you can have lessons or practise a particular discipline. For those that like to shop, there are also plenty of thriving tack shops and feed stores locally.

So if you enjoy the equestrian way of life, you will certainly find that it’s thriving in these parts!

Charlie Stone, Director

With the health of the nation being the absolute priority for everyone, the strict measures imposed by the Government on social distancing to curb the spread of the corona virus pandemic has unsurprisingly impacted on the UK property market and one could be forgiven for thinking that the housing sector has gone into a state of suspension.

There is nothing to stop one from putting a house on the market as long as all the usual pre-marketing formalities have already been completed but one cannot allow prospective buyers to visit your home. The advent of improved technology means ‘virtual viewings’ are possible but it seems unlikely that many buyers would rely on these to commit to a property purchase.

The Government has advised that although offers can still be made, accepted and processed, moving plans should be delayed wherever possible. Estate agents and other professionals involved in the house moving process including solicitors, surveyors, lenders and mortgage brokers are now largely confined to working from home resulting in ongoing sales taking longer.

Despite the current travel and social contact restrictions resulting in us not being able to visit properties to carry out our usual agency activities such as providing market appraisals or to undertake viewings, we at Rural View are keeping busy. We are still taking enquiries about properties we have on the market for sale or rent and are making a point of staying in touch with our clients and customers. We also continue to progress existing sales and indeed have had sales of vacant homes proceed to exchange and completion.

Should you have any questions about selling or buying a home in the present situation or would like a copy of the Government’s advice on moving house, please do get in touch with us on 01747 442500 or admin@ruralview.co.uk .

Mark Matthews, Director

It’s not all bad news! The present global crisis surrounding the coronavirus pandemic is naturally a cause for concern and the health of our clients, family and friends has to be our absolute priority.

Not surprisingly, the virus has impacted on the UK housing sector. After what looked to be a very promising start to 2020, the last couple of weeks has seen a downturn but despite everything, there have also been plenty of positives in recent days as we have agreed an encouraging number of new sales, are still carrying out market appraisals and are putting new properties on the market for sale and rent.

Something that has been noticeable is a significant jump in the number of registrations from London based buyers and tenants very keen to escape the capital to a more rural and healthier lifestyle.

Rural View are still operating from our stylish new office in the heart of Tisbury and even if the country goes into lock-down and we are obliged to work from home, with our cloud-based technology we will be keeping calm and carrying on!

Mark Matthews, Director

We are now at The Loft in Tisbury – pop in & see what a catch we are!

In recent weeks Rural View has seen plenty of exposure in a range of local media outlets including The Blackmore Vale Magazine, Wiltshire Living Magazine, Our Valley News, Salisbury Journal and Country Child. This, together with the opening of our stylish office in the heart of Tisbury and the launch of our smart new branding, has resulted in our receiving plenty of attention and the reaction has been very positive.

Charlie Stone, Director