Cheltenham is an attractive spa town in the county of Gloucestershire. Although it has a growing urban heart, its position on the edge of the Cotswolds provides the perfect balance between metropolis and rural charm.
The Brewery Quarter is a district where old meets new, with retail facilities, a multi-screen cinema, a bowling alley and bars. Head to Montpellier and The Suffolks for something more unusual, where independent stores and boutiques thrive. The arts are well represented In Cheltenham, with an Everyman Theatre, a host of exhibition spaces and The Wilson – Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum.
Access to Cheltenham by road is from junctions 10, 11 or 11a of the major M5 motorway or by rail, with Bristol and Birmingham commutable in under the hour, and London approximately two hours away. Gloucestershire Airport is a modest aviation centre but regular scheduled flights do depart for the Isle of Man, Jersey, Belfast, Glasgow and Newcastle.
The Cheltenham economy supports over 70,000 jobs and an economic strategy report commissioned by the borough council forecasts economic to reach £4.8 billion by 2031. Part of the town’s Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) includes commitments to deliver 33,900 jobs between 2015 and 2021 and a Gross Value Added (GVA) average annual increase of 4.8%.
Tourism has always been a driving force in Cheltenham, stemming from the discovery of mineral springs in the town as far back as 1716. While the water doesn’t hold quite the appeal today, a leisure and customer service workforce helps run many high-profile events, including a packed festival programme, which includes the Cheltenham Festival (equestrian), the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Cheltenham Science Festival, the Cheltenham Music Festival and the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival.
The relocation market, however, is mainly fuelled by a number of international companies with offices in the town. These include Spirax Sarco, GE Aviation, Vertex, Ultra Electronics, Kohler Mira. Cheltenham is also home to the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust, with around 7,200 employees; the top secret GCHQ base, where 5,000 staff are located on a site the same size as Wembley Stadium, and Endsleigh Insurance Services, with a workforce of almost 1,000. Other major employers represent the software, business services, defence, education and administration sectors.
Professionals are happy to relocate to Cheltenham as it offers a balanced life away from work. The educational facilities are excellent. While Cheltenham Ladies’ College – an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 – is known to many, there are a number of other private establishments (Dean Close and Berkhampstead) as well as Ofsted ‘excellent’ rates primary and secondary schools across the town (notably the much sought-after Pate’s Grammar School).
Cheltenham is an attractive town among property investors. In 2016, it took sixth spot in a list of places that saw the biggest increase in new rental properties coming onto the market, with a month-on-month rise of 30.3% seen in April 2016, when compared to March 2016*. Rental supply is good, with a mix of apartments and family-sized homes available.
Some of the most appealing properties are in the leafy streets lines with Regency properties, Victorian dwellings and mews terraces (rich pickings in The Park, Grafton Road, The Promenade, Montpellier, Imperial Square, Shurdington Road, Leckhampton, Battledown, Lansdown and Pittville), and in the picturesque suburbs including Hatherley and Charlton Kings.
In terms of rents to pay, home.co.uk has the following average figures for Cheltenham: one-bedroom properties at £586 per calendar month (pcm), two bedrooms at £925 pcm, three bedrooms at £1,211 pcm and four bedrooms at £1,558.
Our relocation agents are currently active in Cheltenham, monitoring the private rental market, sourcing properties close to employment hubs and helping settle home movers. If you have clients relocating to Cheltenham and would like orientation and rental advice, contact Klippa Relocation today.
*Source: Property Partner
