The Bridgerton Effect - lights! camera! house price premiums!

Netflix’s period romantic comedy Bridgerton appears to have registered with Asian property buyers - and as a result they want to buy in British cathedral cities.

That’s the claim from franchise agency Winkworth which suggests that the TV streaming hit has helped add a premium to some properties in the likes of Bath, Winchester, Exeter and Canterbury. 

In the agency’s latest podcast chief executive Dominic Agace says: “Cathedral cities have always been hotspots. The Romans picked them first and picked them wisely so they are popular as gateways to the English countryside. 

”Hybrid working seems to be the way forward, which enables you to live a bit further away from work than you could before the pandemic. When country markets have taken off, cathedral cities have gone even further over the past two years. We are now seeing demand 20 per cent higher for properties in these cathedral cities, than the country at large.  

“A cathedral city in a beautiful part of the country really hits the spot. We are seeing prices higher in these areas too. In the cathedral city of Winchester, for a four bedroom detached house, you’re looking at a 20 per cent price increase in the past 18 months, against a national 10 per cent rise.”

Matthew Leonard of Winkworth’s Bath office - whose office is next to Great Pulteney Street which has featured in Bridgerton and other period films - tells podcast listeners: “We had recent buyers over from Singapore who confessed to us that she was an absolute Bridgerton fan and that was one of the reasons that drew them to Bath. 

“When travel restrictions were in place, we had a buyer from the Middle East who made an offer on the strength of a virtual tour and then came to see the property before exchanging, and one example of a deal done completely remotely.”