Town is popular with house hunters in the South West

8:00am Saturday 12th April 2008

By Claire Marshall

DURSLEY has become a very desirable place to live, says a local estate agent who claims that for the first time in over 20 years the town is attracting large volumes of buyers from all over the South West.

The new buyers, says Richard Mace an estate agent in Dursley, are young people who want a slice of the rural idyll but in striking distance of city life.

Dursley, being next to the M5 between Bristol and Gloucester yet very much a part of the Cotswolds, is fast becoming a real option for commuters looking to settle down.

Mr Mace, from Besley Hill in Long Street, has over 25 years experience working as an estate agent in Dursley and believes he has seen a big shift in the volumes and types of buyers coming to the area over the last two to three years.

He says the main reason for the shift is the huge amount of investment in the town including the £28 million new Rednock School, the soon to be Sainsbury's supermarket, the business park at Littlecombe and the housing developments that have sprung up all over Dursley and neighbouring Cam.

"All the new development and facilities are bringing a new kind of person into Dursley," said Mr Mace.

"It is no secret that Dursley doesn't have a massive job base in the town itself but it is just on the M5 so we are attracting a lot of commuters.

"We have had people buy properties here that work in Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester.

"The one really big thing that we have noticed is that people are always asking about the local schools and a lot of buyers have said they want to move to the area to get their children into Rednock School."

Despite a national downturn in the property market recently houses in Dursley are still selling and Mr Mace says the area is now perfect for first-time buyers.

"There are opportunities in Dursley for first time buyers that you simply would not get in areas like Bristol, Cheltenham and Clifton," said Mr Mace.

"We have seen a levelling out of prices in Dursley, which has given first-time buyers a chance to get on the property ladder."

Mr Mace added: "People are now looking to move out of the cities, which are very over-priced, to live in more affordable areas and have a more relaxed way of life.

"In Dursley you are surrounded by the Cotswold, it is a very scenic place. When people come to look around the area they say to me - isn't it lovely?

2. Excellent secondary school that is soon to have a new state-of-the-art building.

4. Several large developments of new houses in areas and an excellent selection of properties for first-time buyers.