Introduction - On this page you will find links to details of property
for sale, rental accommodation, shared housing in
Cheltenham.
Cheltenham is just under one hundred miles from the city of London. It is
situated within county of Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds, which is in itself
an area of outstanding beauty and typically English cottages and countryside.
It is also very close to Wales, making it an ideal destination for those that
want to explore the surrounding areas of Wales, the cities of Oxford and Bath.
It is commonly linked with Gloucester due to the well known C&G brand of
mortgages, and it is only 9 miles between Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Travelling to the West it is less than seventy miles away from the capital of
Wales, Cardiff. Road and rail links are good, the main motorway into
Cheltenham being the M5. Rail transport is okay, although direct rail travel
is less frequent and the traveller may need to change at a number of stations.
Cheltenham’s Buildings and Architecture -
The architecture in Cheltenham is varied, however one constant seems to be the
material that many of the properties in this part of the United Kingdom are made
from, limestone with a unique pale yellow colouring. During the time when it was
popular to partake of the waters in Cheltenham, its popularity boosted by
numerous Royal and literary figures townhouses and parades were built in typical
Regency styles, since it was in this period that the spa waters were at their
most frequented.
Therefore, within the city centre there are Regency town
houses, and terraces, many of which have been converted into flats. Families are
attracted to the area due to the locality of good public schools for boys and
girls. However, there are deprived areas of the city and much funding is still
required to regenerate these areas. As such housing is a mix of the
affordable low cost housing and properties for the more affluent. The more
affordable end of the scale offers park housing where the properties are of a
mobile home nature, such as in Fiddlers Green Lane, where a two bedroom property
will fetch on average around £70,000. In the town centre converted Regency
houses offer period living which is now relatively affordable, with a one
bedroom apartment selling for around £88,000.
As a University town there is a demand for student
accommodation, and one bedroom flats in need of some refurbishment will sell for
around £90,000 to £95,000 in that are close to the University. In the
Quadrangle development in Cheltenham, a prospective purchaser can purchase a
purpose built flat from the popular development that was completed in 2002.
With any purchase of property one must obtain a survey. Given the area of the
country and the recent floods in 2007 in and around Gloucester, Cheltenham and
Tewkesbury, one must be very careful when buying in Cheltenham. For example
residents in Bath Terrace were inundated with flood water, and basement flats
were amongst the worst affected.
History - situated so close to Cirencester it is not difficult to make
the Roman connection with the part of the country that Cheltenham is amongst.
However long before the Romans, Cheltenham was an Anglo Saxon settlement. It
became a market town and with the Spring discovered in the 1700's it became and
still is today known as Cheltenham Spa, the waters in the town were said to have
healing properties and so many came to bathe in the waters to soothe their aches
and pains and also drink the waters to feel their beneficial effects. However,
its status as a Spa town has wained somewhat in recent times with a close
neighbour of its Bath Spa finding favour with the Romans and Victorians in
particular.
Tourism and Entertainment – Cheltenham is famous for its links
with sport and in particular horse racing, Cheltenham Racecourse is well known
enough ! In addition to horse racing, golf, cricket and other popular sports are
played at various sporting venues in the city. Festivals play a large part of
things to do in Cheltenham, Arts festivals, race hunt festivals and the
theatres are enough to attract thousands of visitors every year to Cheltenham.
There is even a food and drink festival that is an annual affair in the summer
months.
