Belfast's oldest firm of property consultants, Brown McConnell Clark, can trace its history to 1854. In those 150 years, the population of the capital city has increased from 90,000 to 500,000 today. There have been six British monarchs and two world wars. The founding families of the firm have provided Belfast with two Lord Mayors - Sir Robert McConnell and Sir Percival Brown. The boundaries of the city have changed dramatically, yet the same streets and buildings lie at the heart of commercial Belfast. Times have changed too. In 2004, the modern office has facilities for video conferencing instead of stabling for the horses!

An investment made 150 years ago in residential property would pay magnificently today. A 'Gentleman's Residence' costing £600 in 1854 would be valued at more than £1 million now. The difference is that the servants' quarters have made space for the tennis court.

Over the years, much of the farmland surrounding Belfast has been developed with housing. People's priorities have changed too. Northern Ireland is now a country of home-owners rather than tenants.

1854-1900

Ephraim Brown set up business as a rent agent in 1854. This was a time of great poverty, and of great prosperity. The Famine, and industrial expansion, encouraged movement from the country to the town. By the middle of the century, among other industrial initiatives, there were 24 flax mills and Belfast's population grew rapidly.

1900-1950

Large parts of the city were destroyed in bombing raids at Easter 1941. On Easter Monday of that year, when Joe Martin started work as an apprentice, he was handed a rent book and sent to York Street, to confirm if any properties managed by the firm were still standing.

The blitz lowered property values in Belfast, while those in the country rose. As in 1918, property prices improved significantly after the war.

1950-2004

As Brown McConnell Clark celebrates its 150th anniversary, Northern Ireland is emerging from a long period of civil unrest. Redevelopment of brownfield sites continues along the waterfront and major retail schemes are proposed for the city centre.

Belfast at work

Ironically, market conditions today are similar to those in 1854. Interest rates are low, inflation is minimal and prime property investment yields stand at 5-6%, although over 150 years all these factors have peaked and troughed. Property in the city centre has changed hands from private ownership to institutional holdings, and more recently back to local investors.

The value of commercial property has risen to incredible levels since the firm started, particularly in the last 30 years. 150 years ago, Donegall Place could have been bought for £120,000. Today it is worth well over £200M.

Belfast at home

It was only in the early 20th Century that the absolute value of homes became more significant than rental value. Until then, only the very wealthy owned their homes. Before this, most people rented, as it gave greater mobility to move where the work happened to be. Mortgages too were not easily available.

Early town terraces were mainly for the workers. Factory owners often built housing for their workforce, frequently 'two-up, two-down'. Speculative builders and developers built other streets. These were mainly red brick homes, close to the workplace. Most had an outside toilet in a small yard, and an ashpit rather than sewers. Family size in working homes was often bigger, resulting in more children and fewer facilities. The average age of death in Belfast around 1850 was nine years old, so the population was relatively young.

The most desirable location for a townhouse has come almost full circle, from the city centre near the workplace in the 1850s-1920s, away in the 1950s-80s to the developments of semis, and finally back again in recent years. The town terrace has also become more desirable.

Spacious homes for the wealthy were built in the Belfast suburbs, which expanded from South Belfast towards Antrim and Bangor.

Homes for the middle and upper classes were superior in size, value and amenities. Servants often lived in separate quarters of the same house and all the newest gadgets were first seen here. They were decorated in the latest styles, in contrast to the working person's town terrace, where even wallpaper or paint was considered an unusual luxury.

Unsurprisingly, the desirable location of suburban housing has changed little over the years. A sound investment of 1850 in a large house in Malone or Holywood would still be reliable in 2004!

Street names

Street names often reflect events and personalities of the day, or of the area, hence Balaclava & Sevastapol Streets off the Falls Road, named during the Crimean War, and Chichester Street, Donegall Square and Donegall Place after the 'local squire', the Chichester family who became Marquesses of Donegall.

The area between the university and the Ormeau Road was named in the 1890s, after the firm's own Robert McConnell visited Palestine and Egypt with a builder friend, James Rea. When he developed this area, the new streets were named after places they had visited - Carmel, Damascus, Cairo, Jerusalem and Palestine - and became known as the 'Holy Land'.