Rediscovered records show how house prices in one of Bristol's trendiest suburbs have quadrupled in 20 years. People living in Bedminster are probably bored of hearing about the area's gentrification, and the archive of the Bristol Post - Bristol Live's print title - proves why.
Even as far back as 2003, 'improvements' seen in the South Bristol suburb were already controversial. "Area's move up-market brings in more burglars", read one headline that year. The debate still rumbles on today, with major developments like Bedminster Green set to bring another wave of change.
North Street was named the most gentrified street in Bristol in a 2018 survey. In May last year, a Government Task Force warned action was needed to protect neighbouring East Street from the march of gentrification, with people campaigning to preserve the existing businesses and ensure the existing community is not priced out as the area gets investment.
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The cycle is one that has been seen before. In May 2007, a Bristol Post article reflected on new developments in Bedminster, and the benefits and challenges that had brought. It read: "Parts of greater Bristol which are run down can be regenerated by the flood of new money coming in. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Bedminster, South Bristol."
One person quoted said the area had "suddenly become a bit cool", while another said The Tobacco Factory redevelopment had marked the turning point for the area. You can read the rest of the article, much of which still rings true today, below.
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In 2002, the average two-bedroom terraced home in Bedminster was priced at £80,000, according to figures quoted in that article. Now, the average terraced home in Bedminster is at £433,725, according to Zoopla data from the past 12 months.
That is likely to include some terraces bigger than two-bed, but even accounting for that difference, that's still about quadruple the price. Meanwhile the article quoted the average house price in Bristol as £178,594 in 2007, compared to £392,651 in according to the latest Zoopla data.
Of listings currently live on Rightmove in Bedminster, many have seen massive price jumps since the turn of the century. A two-bedroom home on Hebron Road is on the market for £400,000, having previously sold for £86,500 back in 2002 according to the property sale history. That comparison does neglect to consider any home improvements since then, such as extensions or renovations, but does reflect the general pattern of price increases.
Likewise a three-bedroom home on West Street is on the market for £350,000, but sold for just £55,000 back in 1998. And one family living on Aylesbury Crescent, who bought their three-bed terrace for £146,000 back in 2004, are now selling it on for £475,000. In the property listing, they said: "In 22 years of living in our beautiful family home we never tire of the stunning view across our city.
"We love the welcoming, homely and happy feel of the house and will be sad to leave but we are excited for another family to make their memories here." The estate agents enthuse about the "ideal location" of the house close to North Street and its many shops, bars, cafes and restaurants.
The situation in 2007
![Shops on North Street in Bedminster in 2008](https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article9187736.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_SG_BGS_25-03-24-bedminster_result.jpg)
The 2007 Bristol Post article by Marc Cooper read: "At one time it was part of the industrial heartland of Bristol with many residents working in the Wills tobacco factories. When the Bedminster Parade factory moved to Hartcliffe in the 1970s it marked the start of a major change for the area, and the building is now home to office workers.
"Alongside the rows of Victorian terraces Bedminster is quickly becoming used to 'cafe culture', swanky bars and arty incomers. The price rise in house values in Bedminster over the past five years has seen an average two-bedroom terrace increasing from £80,000 to £220,000 – which is much higher than the current average house price in Bristol.
"It would not be accurate to say that the area has been transformed overnight into a cosmopolitan middle-class area – Bedminster Parade and East Street are still working class, with charity and budget shops, pawn shops, and traditional pubs like the Barley Mow. But in North Street with the Tobacco Factory at one end, and Southville at the other, there has been a gradual gentrification creeping down towards Bedminster.
"North Street is home to the Lounge restaurant and bar, which was opened five years ago this August. Owner Alex Reilley, 33, anticipated that Bedminster was on the verge of regeneration when he chose it. He said: 'I was living in Southville at the time, we were looking at the area, and this was before the casual eating and drinking phenomenon which has swept Bristol had really taken off.
'In Bedminster there was very little to choose from. There were pubs that people buying in Bedminster were uneasy about going into. At the time Southville was the buzz word, but once the housing stock in Southville was used up people began turning to Bedminster, its neighbour of twice the size with much more housing. Prices are rising, but people are happy to stretch themselves because they want to buy into the lifestyle. With all the old buildings Bedminster is a developer’s dream. It also has a close proximity, and south Bristol has suddenly become a bit cool.'
"Andrew Morgan, branch manager of Ocean estate agents in Bedminster, said the area had become the current hotspot in Bristol, but others would follow. He said: 'The housing market in this part of Bristol is very busy at the moment, there is a huge demand, anything which comes up is getting swamped. The majority are first-time buyers, plus quite a lot of investors.
'South Bristol used to be very local, very Bristolian, a place where Bristolians lived. Now it’s a much more varied people that are coming to live there. It’s people who cannot quite afford Clifton – they see it as an alternative. The Tobacco Factory was the big turning point – those kind of people would not have come to South Bristol before.
'These are people at the start of their careers, earning a lot of money, people moving up but not necessarily out of the area – perhaps in a few years they will move from a small terrace in Bedminster to a bigger house in Southville.” Mr Morgan said the average three bedroom house in Bedminster was now £230,000; and in Southville it was £295,000.
"And he predicted that other parts of Bristol could get the same regeneration as the south. “Old Market could change quite a lot with the Temple Quay development, and off the back of that, places like St George.”