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House prices rocket through the roof – and that’s official! By Victoria Roberts
THE MEAD SCHOOL
PROPERTY prices in Tunbridge Wells have never been so high, with the average home now fetching more than half a million pounds, which is 10 per cent higher than this time last year. That means the average homeowner made £50,000 on the value of their house last year – around £136 every day. And there are no signs that house prices will stabilise any time soon, local estate agents have said.
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Surged According to the government’s house price index, published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) last week and based on Land Registry data, house prices across the country surged by 10.0 per cent annually by November. The average UK house now stands at £271,000, up by £25,000 from the previous year’s £246,000, the ONS said.
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The ONS House Price Index matches other property value estimates released over the last quarter including those of Halifax and Rightmove, which have suggested a similar surge in house prices over the last 12 months. In the South East, where property prices fetch a higher premium than other areas of the country, the ONS say there was a
slightly lower increase in house values at 9.6 per cent, but even this will have seen the average home in Tunbridge Wells exceed the £500,000 mark last year. According to Rightmove, the average property in Tunbridge Wells now sells for £528,459, while Zoopla, the other main
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Now Tories are in disarray as cabinet member and a councillor both resign EXCLUSIVE By Richard Williams A CABINET member at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) has quit over the latest Downing Street revelations. And another Conservative councillor has also stood down, citing ‘personal reasons’. Cllr Matt Bailey, who was the head of Environment at TWBC and represents Paddock Wood West, has left the Conservative party and informed the Council he is now representing his ward as an independent councillor. Cllr Bailey said last night: “Following the stream of shocking headlines from Downing Street and Westminster and
given that most of the work we do on the borough council is non-political in nature, I feel I will be better able to represent local residents if free from any association with the current government.
Adressed “Many people in our borough, regardless of which way they vote, feel there’s a problem with the culture in Downing Street and Parliament that urgently needs to be addressed. “This has been going on for years and isn’t about one person or political party. “The last Labour government broke international law over Iraq, presided over
the cash-for-honours scandal and had five MPs jailed for expenses fraud. So they’re part of the same problem.” Cllr Bailey’s resignation follows the latest revelations that have come from Downing Street, this time involving the PM who is said to have celebrated his birthday with a cake and 30 others in June 2020. It comes after a series of allegations about parties at Number 10 that are currently being investigated by civil servant Sue Gray. It also comes after another Conservative councillor stood down from TWBC last
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