The glorious landscapes of the Lake District loom over Cleator Moor (Image: Andy Commins)
A tiny town with rock bottom house prices despite sitting in the shadows of stunning Lake District mountains is beginning to register on the radar of property investors from down south.
As you walk along the main road through Cleator Moor in Cumbria you are within a stone’s throw of the breathtaking scenery of what’s often dubbed the UK’s most beautiful national park.
But sitting between these legendary landscapes and the Cumbrian coastline are houses with bargain basement prices among the cheapest in the UK.
Rightmove has three-bedroom terraced properties listed in the town with guide prices as low as £10,000.
Even the average price that properties have sold for in the last year is just £150,511 which is drastically lower than the current UK average of £292,294.
Gary Youdale, 59, has run The Card Shop and Newsagents in the town centre for 37 years. He says he is Cleator Moor born and bred and has two grown-up children.
Local resident and shop owner Gary Youdale (Image: Andy Commins )
He told Express.co.uk that the town is desperate for investment and is hoping that £40m-plus promised by the previous Conservative government will materialise and make a difference.
Before the recent change in government, Cleator Moor secured a Town Deal worth £40.9m with £22.5 million coming from the Government’s Towns Fund and a further £18.4m from funders promising to match the investment.
Gary said: “At the moment it’s at the bottom. There is £40m set aside [from the Government]. They’re just trying to sort it out.”
The shopowner says that cheaper properties are being bought by landlords looking to make a profit. He said: “I tell you what I have noticed – Duke Street was always a quiet street, older people have passed away and the landlords buy up [the houses].”
However, he says that the landlords aren’t always responsible, saying “they put undesirable people [in them]” and that he’s noticed a rise in men in their thirties hanging around drinking and taking drugs.
Bethany Hully has lived in Cleator Moor all her life (Image: Andy Commins)
He adds that the best thing about the area is the community spirit.
Gary added: “The people are brilliant. I have been to different parts of the world and this takes some beating. The people do stick together. The people moving in from elsewhere – that’s where trouble comes in my view.”
Bethany Hully, 40, works in a town centre opticians and is from Cleator Moor. She lives with her partner Jonathan Bennett, 34, and has one son – Byron, who is 20.
She said: “I was born here and have lived here all of my life. It’s a really nice and close knit area and if you’re having any problems everyone comes around.”
Bethany has noticed that a lot more Airbnbs are springing up in the area. She added: “That goes back to the nice surroundings such as the coast to coast walk.
“I do think it’s a place with a lot of potential. This [government] money could really help if they used it sensibly. At elections promises [are made] and nothing happens.”
Cleator Moor has seriously cheap property prices (Image: Andy Commins)
A cashier working in a town centre supermarket, who travels from Whitehaven, says that although he noticed that “people have moved here from the south”. But he added: “Police are here all the time [due to people] kicking off.”
Andrew Dunsmoir, 45, owns Kirkland Carpets on the edge of the town centre with his brother. He is married to Jacky, who is 46, and says that the nearby nuclear plant Sellafield is a huge employer in the area.
He said: “The biggest thing around here is the Sellafield plant. That’s where people are employed and that’s where the money comes from.”
Andrew also talks about what helps draw people to the area such as “the Lakes, the beaches and the harbours” and says that southerners are taking notice. He gives an example of a man from Portsmouth who bought a holiday home for £80k.
Andrew added: “They come up here and buy a property for £100k – some to live in, some as holiday lets and some to let out. They sell their properties down there and come up here millionaires.”
Locals say that investment is urgently needed in the town. (Image: Andy Commins)
His brother Alistair Dunsmoir, 50, says that the town is “a little bit left behind the times” compared to the more affluent nearby towns of Cockermouth or Keswick. He says that Cleator Moor once had “lots of shops, banks, a thriving market” saying that “online does kill town centres.”
But he says it’s not stopping investors buying properties. He said: “I work for all kinds of people including people who have relocated. They sell their house and have got money in the bank.”
Express.co.uk approached Cumberland Council for comment on the £40m investment in the area. A spokesperson for the council said that progress is being made with Cleator Moor’s investment.
They said there’s a project to develop “an enterprise campus” on the Leconfield Industrial Estate which is an £50m economic regeneration initiative led by Cumberland Council and other partners. Works are due to start in early 2025.
There is also an aim to increase activity and footfall around the Town Square “by bringing vacant and under-utilised buildings back into active use while creating an attractive new public realm” and that works are due to start in early 2025.
Existing sports and leisure provision will also be enhanced, say the council. Planning approval is expected late November 2024. It added there will also be a scheme to “deliver a high-quality integrated and sustainable transport network which improves connections between employment, education, amenities and leisure and transforms the accessibility and attractiveness of Cleator Moor”.
Local business owner Andrew Dunsmoir and wife Jacky with family members (Image: Andy Commins)