WWW – once synonymous with the World Wide Web – has taken on a new significance among local property agents who use it to describe ‘wonderful West Wiltshire.’

The area is in the ascendant with property buyers undaunted by the recent mortgage interest rise which, points out one, may only equate to an average increase of around £15 a month.

Evidence of this comes from Cotswold Homes in Chippenham and Corsham where new homes are being snapped up off-plan. Wiltshire offers an attractive range of lifestyles. In addition to good shopping, Chippenham buyers benefit from high-speed rail links with London, Bath and Bristol. Corsham is an historic market town on the fringe of the Cotswolds where the Pound Arts Centre hosts everything from art exhibitions to stand-up comedy. The town’s independent shops offer antiques, arts and crafts and a variety of places to eat and drink while historic buildings include Corsham Court with its Capability Brown picture gallery.

Cotswold Homes is about to take the wraps off plans for new homes in another timeless Wiltshire village, Broughton Gifford, described as ‘a chocolate box village offering the best of “olde worlde” charm.’

The village is built around The Common, a large area of open land with ponds which are home to ducks in their breeding season. At one end of the common is the old Bell public house, football pitch and bowling green. A packhorse bridge dating from 1725 spans the River Avon to the south of the village.

Prices of the new homes currently available on Cotswold Homes’ Corsham Rise development in Corsham, a greenfield development with south-facing rural views in the town’s Potley Lane, start at £320,000. In Chippenham, the firm’s Chandler’s Mews scheme near Birds Marsh Wood – home to wildlife and a popular place for walkers – start at £309,000.