With its medieval streets, artisan shops and good schools, it’s hardly a surprise the Somerset town of Frome regularly tops lists on the most desirable places to live.
Inside its charming maze of narrow roads is the thriving Westway independent cinema. Close to the Jenson Button Bridge, a tribute to a home-grown Formula One star, is the Cheese and Grain music venue where Paul McCartney and Foo Fighters have played secret gigs ahead of Glastonbury shows.
The town’s cornerstone is the steep cobbled street of picture postcard Catherine Hill, where more than a dozen independent shops do a thriving business selling vintage clothing, jewellery and antiques alongside wine and cocktails bars.
As we visit, in the midst of the town’s Kindness Festival, there are more than 20 volunteers clearing rubbish and planting flowers around the historic market cross as part of the Great British Spring Clean. A rock choir show, social history walk and a “grief disco” are all planned ahead of the festival’s close on Saturday night.
Just over an hour-and-a-half from London on the train, it’s clear why Frome, once known for its wool and cloth industry, has become an escape for families from the city lured by its period homes, independent spirit and surrounding countryside.
But the influx of DFLs (down from Londons) or “blow-ins”, prompted by a Covid pandemic exodus of city dwellers, has brought challenges, with demand for housing sending prices spiralling in a town with a 29,000 population at the last Census.
Average monthly rents rose from £1,343 in 2020 to £1,739 in 2023, according to town-based estate agents Rivendell Estates. The situation was reflected in a recent survey that found housing and rent affordability was the second biggest challenge for residents, beaten only by the cost of living.
Estate agent windows display a 1930s semi-detached three-bedroom homes priced at £415,000, and a three-bed top floor flat at £280,000.
While comparable to prices in London, and maybe Bristol and Bath, the figures are well above those in the lesser-known nearby Somerset towns of Trowbridge and Westbury, and it is impacting locals.
Following a series of pop-up events, a report published by Frome Town Council showed many people said housing was unaffordable for local families, with the problem “often accredited to new people moving in who can afford higher prices”. People, however, said the community spirit in the town was strong.
Locals also complain of an inflation in general prices.
In a town centre restaurant called Little Walcot, which was once a Poundstretcher store, the cost of a pint of Guinness is £6.80, while less than a mile away, at the Lamb and Fountain, filled with locals, a pint costs £4.40.
At the impressive Rye Bakery Cafe, a cafe and art gallery inside a converted chapel, a bacon sandwich costs £10. There’s even a rumour petrol prices at the local Sainsbury’s are higher than in Trowbridge, nine miles away.
“Years ago there wasn’t a lot going on in Frome, and there were no jobs I wanted and as a teenager I couldn’t wait to leave,” said mother-of-two Holly Lawton, who left for university and lived in Canada before returning to her Somerset roots five years ago.
“But coming back, I felt like we had both grown and I wasn’t coming back to the same place. There was just so much more going on to become involved in; a real strong community spirit.
“When I arrived I don’t think virtually anyone in my son’s class was from Frome, and the majority of people were from London, and that’s continued. There was definitely an influx during Covid, and it feels like people are still coming here.
“You sell a flat in London, you can buy a detached home. But with the demand and the lack of houses, all of a sudden, the prices just rose up and up and up. I know lots of people who had to move away, and there were some who were angry about how they had maybe been forced out.”
Two years ago, the town council, which uniquely features only independent councillors, declared a housing crisis and has campaigned for a change in policy for developers to provide more social housing on new-build estates.
The authority is supporting a biggest-of-its-kind community-led project for homes, workspaces and a lido on a 12-acre former industrial site in the town centre. The Mayday Saxonvale scheme saw residents beat off competition from a national developer to buy the land, and there are hopes work will begin in a year’s time.
At least 30 per cent of the 263 homes will be affordable, said Ms Lawton, who is in charge of communications for the not-for-profit group. It could be a potential boost for some 700 households in Frome on the waiting list for a home in the town, with 140 currently bidding for each available property.
Other residents are all too aware of the house shortage, but are trying to help.
Delia Goddard, director for the Frome Area Community Land Trust, arrived from north London after her children left home seven years ago. She swapped a pebbledash house in Mill Hill, in Barnet, for a Georgian house off St Catherine Hill.
On the day she arrived, a national newspaper named the street as the best in the country. “I was surprised, and it was a sign of things to come,” she said. The 66-year-old has since bought two flats which she rents to locals at an affordable price.
“There are many people who have moved into the area, and many have become an important part of the community.”
But not everyone can get settled in the town.
A 58-year-old single mother, evicted from her home two years ago and now living in social housing, said she felt trapped by rising rents and the “ludicrous” price of homes. “It is impossible to raise enough money to buy a house locally,” she said.
“As a town, Frome has been thought about and everything has been kept local with a cinema and shops. But its draw has seen house prices rise, and it’s very difficult to find somewhere to live. I feel trapped.”
There are also concerns about the strain on facilities with new houses being built, and a lack of local jobs. Last year the town council published a report that showed there were five unemployed people in Frome to every job, higher than the average across England, where there are three.
With heavy industry employers such as metalworks foundry Singer & Sons and printer Butler & Tanner now gone, Ms Lawton said a lack of commercial space had forced employers to look elsewhere.
A survey also found some people said a “lack of ordinary shops” in the town centre was “leaving old Frome behind and catering for new people”.
Inside the 18th century Lamb and Fountain, 79-year-old Richard Bray, who has lived in Frome since 1987, said: “The biggest change here has been the influx of outsiders, with Frome becoming more expensive for the people who already live here.” Another drinker, aged 76, said: “The shops don’t feel like they are for locals anymore, I can’t go to town to buy a pair of jeans or shoes.”
But while Steve Tanner, chair of Frome Town Council, acknowledged the difficulties faced by some, he said the arrival of new people, and ideas, had helped the town. Although he admitted work was required to solve a housing shortage.
“It is great to see people in Frome, it is great to see it so busy,” he said. “We attract a lot of people to Frome, and we’re punching well above our weight.”
So what has happened since the housing crisis was called? Ian Rogers, owner of estate agent Rogers and Company, said the housing market had cooled, although this, he said, could be to do with buyer confidence and interest rates.
He also said around 80 per cent of town centre properties valued below £400,000 were purchased by people in Frome, not outsiders. It was the detached homes on the edge of the town with “stone, charm and character” that attracted people from elsewhere.
Celebrities and national newspapers have put the town on the map, Mr Rogers pointed out while joking with colleagues about Hugh Grant buying a custard slice at a local cafe and Nicolas Cage parking up his car near the office.
Back outside, in the medieval Cheap Street, which has a leat (narrow stream) running down it, visitors laden with bags took pictures in the late winter sunshine.
“Friends of mine joke that I see Frome as the centre of the universe,” said Tina Gaisford-Waller, who took over as manager of Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books shop seven years ago. Having grown up in Frome, like many, she said she “couldn’t wait to escape” but on returning from London ahead of a planned trip to New Zealand, she decided to stay.
“We do things differently, we are not afraid to stand our ground, and we fight for what we believe. Frome has always had a sense of independence. It is a rebel town, we are known for being renegade.
“Having grown here and seen it all, there are some people who come here from outside and feel like they invented the place, and that does really rile people. It’s always been punk and inventive.
“It is difficult watching the town become slowly more divided, that is the big bone of contention. There’s a feeling between people who have been left behind and those who are having a great life. Some people think Frome is nothing more but a playground, but for some living here, it is difficult.”
On the terms DFL and “blow-ins” for outsiders, she finished: “I prefer the last as it is like seeds being blown in with some leading to weeds but most leading to flowers.”
A Somerset Council spokesperson said: “This [housing emergency] is something that will be covered in the Somerset Local Plan. The council has commissioned the evidence base on housing need across Somerset to inform the appropriate policy position for the future.”
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