Henbury guidebook

The Henbury area, taking in Brentry to the east, the village of Hallen to the north and Southmead to the south, offers a wide variety of homes to suit most pockets, including first-time buyers'.

Henbury was once a village but after the last war it was purchased by Bristol City Council and redeveloped as a "new town" with estates, schools and shops.

A plaque on a house in the district's Arnall Drive marks the fact that it was the 10,000th council house built by the city in this extremely busy post-war period of construction.

Henbury today has something of a dual personality. Much of it is still council-owned or privately-owned ex-council housing, but it also has areas of imposing country houses with large gardens, and small rural cottages that survived the rapid expansion.
 
The proliferation of small houses and flats at prices considerably below the Bristol average have made Henbury and some of its neighbouring areas very popular with those making their first steps onto the property ladder.

You can find three-bedroom terraced houses here that are as much as a third cheaper than elsewhere in Bristol; indeed often considerably less than the price of a one-bed apartment in many parts of the city.

There are exceptions to this, of course, such as the properties near the golf course, which are considerably more expensive than most of Henbury. 

There has also been new building here in recent years such as the Platform 1 development of 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments and studios, and the Hazel Grove development of three- and four-bed homes.

On the outskirts of Henbury is the popular tourist attraction of Blaise Hamlet which boasts some of the most picturesque cottages in Britain. 

Designed by noted artist John Nash, the National Trust-owned hamlet comprises nine Grade 1 listed rustic thatched cottages around a village green.

They were built in 1811 to house employees of the nearby Blaise Castle House, a fine 18th century manor in large, recently restored grounds designed by Humphrey Repton, which is now a museum.

Surrounding Areas

1. Brentry

Brentry is another mix of council and ex-council housing, and also has some pleasant semi-rural areas.

Prices are pretty much about the average for Bristol and a healthy demand means that properties in Brentry seem to keep their value better than other parts of the city. 

2. Southmead

Southmead was the subject of two eras of rapid expansion.  The first was in the early 1930s when a large council estate was constructed to the south of the main Greystoke Avenue.

The second was after the war, when over 1,000 more council houses were built to the north of the road.

The area is dominated by Southmead Hospital, so housing demand comes from its staff, as well as from first-time buyers and young couples.
 
House prices here are higher than in neighbouring Henbury or Brentry but lower than its other neighbours like Westbury Park and Stapleton.

The housing market in Southmead also includes a large stock of flats, in particular the very imposing former Muller House which has been converted into 66 apartments with the sort of proportions you'd expect in an 18th century building.

Demand for rented properties is healthier in Southmead than elsewhere in the area.