26
Is Dartmouth Bouncing Back?
reported a surge in activity. Pent up demand during lockdown and the stamp duty holiday have all had a positive impact but the local market is particularly strong for other reasons. Cash rich buyers from elsewhere in the UK are snapping up second homes – a safe bolt hole in the UK has become even more attractive. Many agents are also seeing much more interest from buyers from London and the Midlands looking to settle permanently in the South West and South Devon.
Buyers are changing their
lifestyles and bringing forward their long-cherished plans to work from home, at least part-time, but still retaining contact with their offices at a distance. They are getting more for their money but crave outdoor space and good internet coverage (something to bear in mind if your broadband speeds are slow!). Sarah- Jane Bingham-Chick of Savills says they have “seen twice as many agreed sales in the South West this year
than we did in 2019 and currently have over 1300 registered potential buyers at our Exeter office alone.” Julia Pollard of Stags Dartmouth reports that the level of interest and activity is as strong as it has ever been across the Stags network of offices throughout the South West.
Increased property transactions
will have a significant and positive ripple effect on other home-related businesses throughout the local economy.
What conclusions can we take from this despite the nagging concern that the future direction of the economy is still very uncertain, especially if local lockdowns accelerate, and that all this financial support, critical for businesses’ survival, has yet to be paid for? Overall, a good summer for many businesses but, in most cases, it did not make up for the lost business during lockdown. Clearly, Dartmouth and South Devon have much to offer and this was a pleasant surprise to many visitors. Not all these new visitors will return but many will.
The town coped well with the surge in numbers despite the usual parking woes but perhaps some residents felt slightly alienated and very cautious about going into their own town. For many businesses, it will be important in the difficult winter months ahead to persuade residents to venture back out (dare I say, there’s no better way to help do this than to advertise in By The Dart magazine?!). Residents, perhaps, need to be encouraged to take up some of the slack as visitors leave, especially in the run up to Christmas, and support those businesses that have a long history in the town - the old adage “use them or lose them” is as pertinent as ever. Nonetheless, many businesses have learned new or different ways of doing business and the town has been able to experiment with how it uses its open spaces. It’s called the Covid accelerator!
It will be interesting to take the business temperature again in 6 months next spring. Watch this space…
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