One Welsh town has been included within a list of just 11 areas that are the best places in the UK for relocation in 2023, based on its postcode being judged as a 'hotspot' neighbourhood.
The Times have compiled the elite list using what they define as making a location a desirable place to live including aspects such as 'great independent shops, the perfect pub, local culture and Instagrammable scenery'.
Scouring the UK for the coolest addresses of 2023 and the type of people each of the 11 postcodes was likely to attract as relocating house hunters, The Times has highlighted Monmouth as one of the UK's 'most wanted postcodes'.
READ MORE: The 'poshest Welsh villages' in the UK have been named
The market town is surrounded by some of the most spectacular scenery in Wales, nestled within the countryside on the edge of the Wye Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with the Brecon Beacons National Park to the west and glorious undulating landscape inbetween.
The town is steeped in history too. According to website Welcome To Monmouth, the town's origins are Roman, with a settlement and small garrison called Blestium found at the site.
Back to present day and the town is packed with historic and distinctive listed buildings and properties that include the ruins of a castle and the Monnow Bridge - the only remaining medieval fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower still standing in place according to Visit Wales.
The centre of the town is visually dominated by the Grade I Shire Hall built in 1724, located in Agincourt Square that includes a statue of King Henry V nestled into its beautiful stone facade. The king was born in the town in 1386 or 1387, there is some debate among historians on the exact date, at Monmouth castle.
Finding a property to buy or rent in the town offers a buyer a choice from a variety of eras, with many dating back to Georgian and Victorian times, especially around the centre of the town, but homes from most decades and past periods are represented. Within and around the town are some breath-taking dream homes that range in price from £500,000 to well over £1m. See inside a dreamy cottage a few miles from the town here.
According to property portal Rightmove, using Land Registry data, properties in Monmouth had an overall average price of £353,536 over the last year, well above the Wales' national average of £245,893 according to the Principality Building Society.
The majority of sales in Monmouth during the last year were detached properties, selling for an average price of £526,061. Semi-detached properties sold for an average of £292,245, with terraced properties fetching £256,661.
Overall, sold prices in Monmouth over the last year were 11% up on the previous year and 16% up on the 2020 peak of £304,453. Monmouthshire is unlikely to be the best place to find a bargain though, with the county continually listed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as the most expensive county in Wales. Find out more about that here.
Monmouth is also well placed for road links to outside the county with the M4 found to the south, easily accessed by the A40, and to the north this road that then morphs into the M50 and is the main route to Birmingham, The Midlands, and beyond.
But the decision to include Monmouth in the exclusive list firmly centres around the sociable and unique lifestyle the town and surrounding area can offer a resident, as well as its stunning location and pretty streets packed with period properties.
The Times' thinks Monmouth is a special place that will entice buyers from London that they have named as 'the haute hipsters, saying: "Has the hipster love affair with Hackney fizzled at last? Is east London toast? A visit to the Welsh town of Monmouth will confirm, yes: the edgy crowd have found a new epicentre.
"When they’re not enjoying the town’s buzzing fringe art and folk scene (in summer there’s the Monmouth Festival, one of the UK’s largest free music events, back after a three-year break), hipsters can be found among the vines at Ancre Hill Vineyard, sipping its award-winning natural wine — or “Shoreditch wine”, as Ancre's owners have nicknamed it.
"Also popular among the new crew is cider, particularly the award-winning single-variety vintages made at the Apple County Cider Co, while posh nibbles can be found at the Marches Delicatessen. There’s plenty of yoga — local teacher Olivia Clarke’s Yin and Dharma Days and retreats are always popular.
"Monmouth's laid-back scene is also pulling in famous faces, from old rockers like Bez from the Happy Mondays, who keeps bees and makes wine from hedgerow fruit (naturally), to Oprah actual Winfrey, whose production company took over the Wye Valley cinema to make a new show."
Authors of the article in The Times, Victoria Brzezinski and Hannah Evans, state that those 'in the know' in and around Monmouth target a table at the Pig & Apple, a popular burger restaurant in an old abandoned farm shop on Humble by Nature Farm, run by a local young couple Jake Feakins and Jess Stephens who quit the rat race.
And maybe now more people will be targeting this gem of a Welsh town as one of the best postcodes in the UK to do the same.
The full list of 11 most wanted postcodes for relocating in 2023:
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