Searches spike in Cornwall’s Watergate Bay following ITV’s Playing Nice

Love or Hate Rightmove
  • Property searches for Watergate Bay in Cornwall jumped by 46% after it was featured as a location in ITV’s drama, Playing Nice:
    • Searches for Watergate Bay jumped by 46% over the past week versus the previous week
    • Rightmove platform visits peak between 8-9pm each day as many people spend the evening dual screening
  • The busiest minute on Rightmove is 8:48pm on a Monday
  • The average price of a home in the TR8 postcode where Watergate Bay is located is £382,228
  • Cornwall is one of the most searched for locations on Rightmove, behind only London and Manchester

Wednesday 15th January 2025: New data from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove reveals property searches for Watergate Bay in Cornwall jumped by 46% after it was featured in ITV’s Playing Nice.

This is the latest example of culturally popular TV shows influencing search behaviour on the UK’s largest property platform.

Rightmove platform visits peak between 8-9pm each day as many people spend the evening dual screening. The busiest minute on Rightmove is 8:48pm on a Monday.

The average price of a home in the TR8 postcode where Watergate Bay is located is £382,228.

The drama, set in Cornwall, showcases stunning coastal backdrops across locations in the county.

Current average asking prices in locations where the show is filmed include St. Ives (£499,947) Penzance (£330,259), and Newquay (£337,399).

Cornwall is one of the most searched for locations on Rightmove, behind only London and Manchester.

During the pandemic, it became the most searched for location, as more potential buyers searched near the coast and countryside.

Steve Pimblett, Chief Data Officer at Rightmove comments: “With the scale of a platform like Rightmove, we can see how trends impact search behaviour down to the minute, and in the smallest of locations. It’s always fascinating to see how popular TV shows can impact how people search, with people at home inspired by the screen to look at what it might be like living in a place like Watergate Bay, and the other picturesque areas of Cornwall nearby.”

Rank Most searched for locations
1 London
2 Manchester
3 Cornwall
4 Glasgow
5 Edinburgh
6 Bristol
7 Devon
8 Sheffield
9 York
10 Bath

Rightmove

UK Property news updates shared directly from Rightmove PLC - the country's leading property portal.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026

Main points Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.7%, to £1,393, in the 12 months to July 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is up from 3.3% in the 12 months to June 2026. Average rents increased to £1,451 (3.8%) in England, £843 (4.5%) in Wales, and £1,016 (1.7%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More
Breaking News

Scrapping Stamp Duty could unlock 300,000 extra home moves a year

Economic growth in key regions, such as around Cambridge and the ‘tech corridor’ being held back by stagnant housing market. Rathbones argues that a more mobile housing market could help unlock part of the UK’s £5.5 trillion housing wealth.   Reforming Britain’s property tax system could unlock more than 300,000 additional housing transactions each year…
Read More
new build home fronts
Breaking News

New-build property across Great Britain increased in price

The average house price for a new-build property across Great Britain increased to £501,658 in July 2026. The West Midlands recorded the largest average price increase, with the average new-build house price rising to £418,281 in July 2026. Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the smallest average increase, with the average house price rising to £347,846 in…
Read More
Breaking News

Where London leavers are paying a premium for green space

New research from UK Property Development (UKPD shows that Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire command the highest green space premiums among London’s commuter counties, with homebuyers paying a premium of up to 15.3% to live within a stone’s throw of public green space.   UKPD has compared the average asking price of properties for sale within…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 18/8/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Removing inefficiency that comes from humans having to understand where every piece of information lives   Thought Leadership by Fredérick Wakim, Founder of ImmoAdmin “For most of the software era, making a property management platform better meant adding something to it. Another dashboard. Another…
Read More
Breaking News

England tightens planning rules to save local pubs

Turning pubs into housing or offices will be made harder as part of changes to government planning rules in England. Under the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), anyone seeking to change the use of a beloved local venue must now provide strict proof that the business cannot survive, including evidence that it has been…
Read More