16/02/2007
Graham + Sibbald states: East Neuk of Fife - This is no ugly duckling
Golden egg laid in 2006.
Now the Bernard Matthews poultry site in Suffolk has been re-licensed by the Meat Hygiene Service, will the bird flu case there have the same effect as in Fife? Robbie Buchanan, Partner at Graham + Sibbald comments on the boost to the Residential Market in the East Neuk of Fife following on from the publicity from the UK’s first case of Bird Flu in 2006.
The East Neuk of Fife has always been a popular location with picturesque villages and scenery and within a short drive of St. Andrews which is world renowned for its Golf History. In recent years the East Neuk has really come into its own and is now a very highly sought after location for residential property both on an owner occupied basis and also second/holiday homes.
Most readers will recall in 2006 there was a media frenzy focused on Cellardyke Harbour where a dead swan was found and tests confirmed that this was the first recorded case of Bird Flu in the UK. A number of measures and exclusion zones were put in place at the time and to quote from Private Fraser of Dad’s Army “we were all doomed!”. The various departments involved however handled the situation well and it was soon confirmed that this was an isolated case and no further reports of Bird Flu followed.
This one dead swan however proved to be a golden goose in that it attracted National and International interest and through the media many people saw for themselves the beauty of the location. Indeed Fife in general was put on the map with its road and rail links, with close proximity to Scotland’s Capital, Edinburgh where our Parliament is based also other major Cities such as Dundee, Perth and Glasgow are within easy commuting distance.
A property recently exposed to the market in John Street, Cellardyke backs on to the foreshore and has superb views, close to Cellardyke Harbour comprising an old former Fisherman’s house on two levels with a basement and this was presented to the market as a basic shell and boarded up, however, with Planning Consent to convert back into a single dwelling with balcony and panoramic view. Many of the original Fisherman’s houses in the area were occupied by more than one family in days gone by and in recent years some have been converted to self-contained flats due to the increasing demand. In the 1980s, you could have bought a whole house in this location for around £50,000 and this particular property was marketed for sale at offers over £270,000 requiring complete renovation and conversion back to a single dwellinghouse. Needless to say there was no shortage of interest from buyers!
Cellardyke itself adjoins and indeed merges into Anstruther which has a famous Fish & Chip Shop, recently voted 2nd Best in the UK as a whole and its patrons include Prince William, Tom Hanks and Robert Duvall. The wider picture for Fife is currently much in vogue due to the need to replace the Forth Road Bridge which, since its completion in the 1960s, has seen a huge increase in traffic flow and the latest talk is in favour of a tunnel under the Forth rather than a new bridge. As well as this there is also talk of proposed Ferry and Hovercraft links across the Forth to Edinburgh and the Rosyth North Sea Ferry Link to the continent has also proved popular and an increasing number of Cruise Ships call here, all passing the former Royal Yacht Britannia based at Leith.
In summary therefore the East Neuk and indeed the Kingdom of Fife as a whole have much to offer and the residential market shows no signs of slowing down at the moment despite recent interest rate hikes, indeed quite the reverse. Last, but not least, one of the “local lads” from Kirkcaldy, which occupies a prominent location in the Centre of Fife, is the local MP by the name of Gordon Brown, widely expected to be our next Prime Minister.
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