Braintree is set to become a boom area this year with the price of homes rocketing and large increases in the population.

House prices in Braintree are predicted to go up by ten per cent within six months, which is double last year's increase.

Already there are 10 people seeking properties for every home available across mid-Essex.

Even modest properties in the Braintree, Witham and Chelmsford area have smashed the £150,000 barrier.

The average cost of a home in the region at the moment is £105,000, say estate agents, Bairstow Eves, who handle 1,000 sales in Essex a month.

Director, Dai Jones, said: "We are seeing solid progress in mid-Essex.

''Braintree, in particular, is a key spot. There are many new properties and the new retail centre.

''The whole character of the district is changing. It will be the real boom area of 2000."

"There is no shortage of demand in all housing categories from studio flats to country houses over £750,000.''

Braintree district councillor, Barbara Buchan, a member of the town centre strategy group, claimed that although prices have increased, homes are still very good value.

"A lot of people move here from London and the outskirts because property prices there have gone through the roof," she said.

Cllr Buchan said Braintree is popular for various reasons.

"There is urbanisation but people are also near the country. We have a very low crime rate, which makes people feel safe, particularly the elderly.

"We have good link roads, and we are only an hour to Liverpool Street by train," she added.

The latest edition of Essex Trends - a county council publication which tracks the lifestyles of people living in the county annually - shows that 14.7 per cent of the population in Braintree is 65 and over.

This compares to14 per cent in Chelmsford.

In 1997 Braintree had a population of 127,800, an increase of 9,500, the third largest in Essex.

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