The small historic city is full of charm, from period architecture to top schools, which has lead to significant price growth over the past five years
6 min
Bath has long been known for its genteel pleasures and civility.
It came to prominence 2,000 years ago as a religious spa where people worshiped the Roman goddess Sulis Minerva and bathed in the natural thermal spring waters that still flow with hot water today. In the early 1700s it re-emerged as a spa resort, attracting fashionable society as resident Jane Austen observed in her novels.
The city has come to the fore yet again thanks to the Netflix series “Bridgerton,” since many of its well-preserved heritage sites, stone-flagged streets and wisteria-clad mansions form a glamorous backdrop to the show’s high-society Regency world.
For instance, the city’s Holburne Museum acts as Lady Danbury’s townhouse. No. 1 Royal Crescent was used as the Featheringtons’s London home, while the Abbey Deli on Abbey Street was transformed into the Modiste dress shop, and Bath Assembly Rooms served as the venue for Lady Danbury’s ball in the first season. Glimpses of Bath, particularly its City Centre neighbourhood, are back as the first part of season three was released on Thursday.
Boundaries
Bath lies in the River Avon valley 97 miles west of London, between the Cotswold Hills and the Mendips. To the north, the city centre is bounded by Lansdown Road, to the east by the A46 highway, and the south by the A36 and the end of the Lower Bristol Road to the A4 highway. The river runs through the city, dividing it north from south, and there are four main bridges. The Roman Baths lie at the heart of the city, close to the great medieval church, Bath Abbey. The most iconic streets—some of which featured in “Bridgerton”—are the Royal Crescent and the Circus, which are a short walk from the baths and feature sweeping classical facades.
Price Range
David Mackenzie, partner at broker Carter Jonas, said the typical house price is £900,000 to £1 million, reaching up to £6 million for more expensive properties.
One- and two-bedroom apartments fetch between £200,000 to £400,000.
Prime prices cost about £1,000 per square foot, said Savills property consultant Christine Penny.
Housing Stock
Since Bath is a Unesco World Heritage City, its historical environment is protected, so it does not expand. The centre contains tall Georgian townhouses, while there is more modern housing on the infill sites created when the city was bombed during World War II. A Georgian townhouse usually has five stories and 100 stairs.
“They were built with entertaining in mind with large reception rooms, grand proportions, high ceilings, big windows and fireplaces. They have a doll’s-house look,” Mackenzie said. “Many have railings at the front and wrought-iron balconettes.”
Parking is at a premium; the Georgians built stables and coach houses at the back of properties but many have since been converted into residences. A garage can cost as much as £200,000 and a secure car-parking space £100,000.
Bathwick Hill and Weston Park also feature Regency villas that are individual in style, unlike the uniform feel of the monumental Georgian terraces.
“The Grand Tour of the day inspired the architects of that era because a lot of the houses will have beautiful pediments and columns that are almost Grecian in feel,” Penny said.
Villas are usually 5,000 to 6,000 square feet in size set within grounds of 0.5 to 1 acre. Such properties are rare, coming on the market once a year and can command between £3 million and £10 million.
What Makes It Unique
“Bath is a lovely mix of town and country life because it is such a small city, added to which it is very beautiful and very safe,” Mackenzie said, calling out the several bodies of water that cut through the city.“It’s very historic, but more recently what has attracted people to Bath is that it’s got very good schools and the University of Bath.”
Former radio producer Penny Faux and her composer husband, Steven, moved to Bath from London with their young family. They were attracted by the city’s beautiful buildings, lack of urban sprawl and good schools. Faux also cited its vibrant arts scene as a draw.
“Bath punches above its weight, with good theatre and music festivals,” Faux said. “It’s also an international place, home to a university and many language schools.”
Bath also has good transport links, including an international airport and train connections into London in 90 minutes.
“It’s immensely attractive with period properties interspersed with lots of public space and parks,” Savills’s Penny said. “We have a university that attracts overseas students. We are a global destination.”
Luxury Amenities
Bath is a lively place with an excellent shopping centre and numerous restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Olive Tree. To relax, there is the Thermae Bath Spa with its natural springs, Royal Victoria Park and the Botanical Gardens on the edge of Royal Crescent. For sports, there are Tracy Park and Lansdown golf clubs to the north, and the Manor House Hotel golf club at Castle Combe.
Bath has much to offer culturally with numerous art galleries and museums, as well as music, literary and film festivals. The Theatre Royal stages shows pre and post runs in London’s West End.
Among the top-ranked private schools on the north side are two day and boarding schools that enrol students from pre-kindergarten through high school: the Royal High School Bath school for girls and the co-ed Kingswood.
On the south side, King Edward’s School is co-ed day school geared toward pupils from pre-K to 12th grade. The co-ed Paragon School is for children aged three to 11. Prior Park College is a mixed Catholic day and boarding school for children ages 11 to 18.
Who Lives There
“Bath attracts people with connections outside of the area; a lot of people who work in London. People who move to Bath with their children tend to stay here, so we do have retirees,” Penny said.
There’s also an arts crowd in Bath that goes back to residents like writers Austen and Mary Shelley, Mackenzie said. “It’s also got a lot of academics who love its history, as well as high-net-worth individuals who come for the schools and because it’s safe, yet can get into London very quickly by train.”
Notable Residents
Mackenzie said the city is a lure for the famous because “you can blend in in Bath.” It’s been home at one time or another to many actors, from Indira Varma of “Game of Thrones,” to John Cleese and Nicolas Cage , according to published reports.
Also from the arts, designer Manolo Blahnik reportedly made Bath his home 43 years ago and lives in a Georgian townhouse on Camden Crescent by architect John Eveleigh.
Outlook
Mackenzie said prices have increased 15% to 20% over the past five years. At present, it takes on average six to eight weeks for a home to sell. But Mackenzie said that properties in locations such as the Circus, the Royal Crescent, St James’s Square, Lansdown Crescent and Widcombe along the canal sell quickly.
“Property in Bath always holds its value because housing stock never increases, there’s never a flood of properties that come to the market,” he said.
“Bath stands its ground,” said Penny. She said the first quarter of 2024 had been very busy and the value of prime property rose in value 0.6% compared to the previous year.
Mackenzie said prices will remain stable in what is an election year but if a new government reduces stamp duty that may nudge prices up 5%.
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What a quarter-million dollars gets you in the western capital.
Alexandre de Betak and his wife are focusing on their most personal project yet.
Unmarried home buyers say they are giving priority to a financial foundation over a legal one
4 min
The big wedding can wait. Couples are deciding they would rather take the plunge into homeownership.
In reshuffling the traditional order of adult milestones, some couples may decide not to marry at all, while others say they are willing to delay a wedding. Buying a home is as much, if not more of a commitment, they reason. It helps them build financial stability when the housing market is historically unaffordable.
In 2023, about 555,000 unmarried couples said that they had bought their home in the previous year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Census Bureau data. That is up 46% from 10 years earlier, when just under 381,000 couples did the same.
Unmarried couples amounted to more than 11% of all U.S. home sales. The percentage has climbed steadily over the past two decades—a period in which marriage rates have fallen. These couples make up triple the share of the housing market that they did in the mid-1980s, according to the National Association of Realtors.
To make it work, couples must look past the significant risk that the relationship could blow up, or something could happen to one partner. Without a marriage certificate, living situations and finances are more likely to fall into limbo, attorneys say.
Mark White, 59 years old, and Sheila Davidson, 62, bought a lakeside townhouse together in Newport News, Va., in 2021. But only her name is on the deed. He sometimes worries about what would happen to the house if something happened to her. They have told their children that he should inherit the property, but don’t have formal documentation.
“We need to get him on the deed at some point,” Davidson said.
White and Davidson both had previous marriages, and decided they don’t want to do it again. They also believe tying the knot would affect their retirement benefits and tax brackets.
Couples that forgo or postpone marriage say they are giving priority to a financial foundation over a legal one. The median homeowner had nearly $400,000 in wealth in 2022, compared with roughly $10,000 for renters, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances.
Even couples that get married first are often focused on the house. Many engaged couples ask for down-payment help in lieu of traditional wedding gifts.
“A mortgage feels like a more concrete step toward their future together than a wedding,” said Emily Luk, co-founder of Plenty, a financial website for couples.
Elise Dixon and Nick Blue, both 29, watched last year as the Fed lifted rates, ostensibly pushing up the monthly costs on a mortgage. The couple, together for four years, decided to use $80,000 of their combined savings, including an unexpected inheritance she received from her grandfather, to buy a split-level condo in Washington, D.C.
“Buying a house is actually a bigger commitment than an engagement,” Dixon said.
They did that, too, getting engaged eight months after their April 2023 closing date. They are planning a small ceremony on the Maryland waterfront next year with around 75 guests, which they expect to cost less than they spent on the home’s down payment and closing costs.
The ages at which people buy homes and enter marriages have both been trending upward. The median age of first marriage for men is 30.2, and for women, 28.6, according to the Census Bureau. That is up from 29.3 and 27.0 a decade earlier. The National Association of Realtors reported this year that the median age of first-time buyers was 38, up from 31 in 2014.
Family lawyers—and parents—sometimes suggest protections in case the unmarried couple breaks up. A prenup-like cohabitation agreement spells out who keeps the house, and how to divide the financial obligations. Without the divorce process, a split can be even messier, legal advisers say.
Family law attorneys say more unmarried people are calling for legal advice, but often balk at planning for a potential split, along with the cost of drawing up such agreements, which can range from $1,000 to $3,000, according to attorney-matching service Legal Match.
Dixon, the Washington condo buyer, said she brushed off her mother’s suggestion that she draft an agreement with Blue detailing how much she invested, figuring that their mutual trust and equal contributions made it unnecessary. (They are planning to get a prenup when they wed, she said.)
There are a lot of questions couples don’t often think about, such as whether one owner has the option to buy the other out, and how quickly they need to identify a real-estate agent if they decide to sell, said Ryan Malet, a real-estate lawyer in the D.C. region.
The legal risks often don’t deter young home buyers.
Peyton Kolb, 26, and her fiancé figured that a 150-person wedding would cost $200,000 or more. Instead, they bought a three-bedroom near Tampa with a down payment of less than $50,000.
“We could spend it all on one day, or we could invest in something that would build equity and give us space to grow,” said Kolb, who works in new-home sales.
Owning a place where guests could sleep in an extra bedroom, instead of on the couch in their old rental, “really solidified us starting our lives together,” Kolb said. Their wedding is set for next May.
Homes and weddings have both gotten more expensive, but there are signs that home prices are rising faster. From 2019 to 2023, the median sales price for existing single-family homes rose by 44%, according to the National Association of Realtors. The average cost of a wedding increased 25% over that time, according to annual survey data from The Knot.
Roughly three quarters of couples move in together before marriage, and may already be considering the trade-offs between buying and renting. The cost of both has risen sharply over the past few years, but rent rises regularly while buying with a fixed-rate mortgage caps at least some of the costs.
An $800 rent hike prompted Sonali Prabhu and Ryan Willis, both 27, to look at buying. They were already paying $3,200 in monthly rent on their two-bedroom Austin, Texas, apartment, and felt they had outgrown it while working from home.
In October, they closed on a $425,000 three-bed, three-bath house. Their mortgage payment is $200 more than their rent would have been, but they have more space. They split the down payment and she paid about $50,000 for some renovations.
Her dad’s one request was that the house face east for good fortune, she said. Both parents are eagerly awaiting an engagement.
“We’re very solid right now,” said Prabhu, who plans to get married in 2026. “The marriage will come when it comes.”
