As a result pubs became wine bars, greengrocers became delicatessens and the church halls started having ballet classes for children instead of bingo sessions for pensioners and property prices shot locally up much faster than the average for the country. It became a middle class sport to spot the next area that would be gentrified so that you could get in quickly while prices were low.

This was helped by the housing stock being largely brick built and therefore usually structurally sound despite decades of neglect but most of the most promising areas were done over some ten years or so ago.