Just coming back to this post as it really does paint Bentham in a bad light. I read it prior to moving there 3 years ago, but me and my better half were like ‘why not’, we’re only renting.
Having lived there, we absolutely love it. Bentham is an exceptionally safe, picturesque and nice place to live, and I assume anyone who makes any crime comments about it are well and truly snobbish.
And yes - real children do actually live here unlike some of the places previously mentioned – so you get the odd bit of vandalism, this extends to graffiti in the skate park for example – but who honestly cares? Anything more serious, the kids wouldn’t get away with as it’s such a small town.
I personally have not had any crime related issues or felt at all intimidated living here. Bentham has a community news magazine delivered through the door each month for free. In there - they publish the local reported ‘crimes’ – the worst I’ve seen is ‘someone caught smoking marijuana’. Has anyone lived in a suburb or a city in the last 30 years?
The demographic is a mix of well-off retired who’ve moved for the country life and working class families who work as trades types etc. – who are ‘getting by’. To be frank, the working class are rapidly being squeezed out of Kirkby Lonsdale and Settle, Bentham is (and possibly was) the only remaining affordable option in the area. Due to the shake-up of covid and working-from-home it is changing the demographic even further.
As for terming it a ‘funny place’. God forbid someone says hello to you whilst walking down the street. It is perhaps the only place I have ever lived that has a true community feel where people bother to talk to each other and therefore do end up staying for many, many years. Although I will admit - I am not the type to go for a drink at the local pubs – nor would I opt to go to one of them for a ‘meal out’.
Most importantly - don’t underestimate amenities. For its size - Bentham has a lot. Bentham has 2 little supermarkets, a green grocer, a 9-5 everyday post office, a discount shop, a diy shop (surprisingly they do still exist), a sweet shop, a library, a butcher, a couple of bakeries, 3 different take-aways and most significantly a railway station. I’ve used it easily and reliably to get to Manchester for work on the odd occasion or London for international flights.
With regards to Arkholme, I’ve walked through it on a few hikes before up the Lune. I do agree - it is rather splendid. Although it does appear a little bit detached from reality and not a single person was ‘out and about’. Oh and good luck when you need to ‘pop’ to the shops because you ran out of milk.
With regards to the original question as to why the actual house prices are lower there? I think these are kept quite low due to four reasons.
1-Historical Stigma
2-Due to the strong community, there’s a lot of below market value private house sales.
3-There is a large percentage of historical modest size council housing (most of which is privately owned now) which enables people to sell at a lower value.
4-People may assume it's just quite far to commute for work. (my other half now gets to work faster in Lancaster than when she lived there as doesn't have to sit in any traffic)
As of right now on rightmove the average house price over the last year in Arkholme was £586,950, Kirkby Lonsdale was £372,657 and £220,513 in Bentham, so you really are comparing apples and oranges.