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7 unexpected ways your house price could be boosted
With new research showing that the name of your street could be influencing the price of your house, we found other suprising factors that fetch high property premiums
The housing market used to be very simple: if you were selling a home with the capacity for an extension in a leafy area and a top state school round the corner, you’d more or less struck property gold. But now new research by Zoopla has complicated things – by finding that factors as obscure as having the word ‘Warren’ in your address could more than double the price of your house in the UK.
This is good news, perhaps, for those who don’t live on a tree-laden avenue in the middle of London. However, it seems there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to judging property premiums. The following unexpected factors that influence house prices could have you reappraising that one-bedroom semi you thought you’d never get rid of.
The Waitrose Factor
Waitrose is well known to be the crème-de-la crème of supermarkets, so much so that having one in your town can boost house prices by nearly £40,000, according to a Lloyds Bank report published last year.
Last year, a Lloyds Bank report found that people love the supermarket so much that having one nearby adds nearly £40,000 to the average property price. The expensive supermarket is clearly interpreted as a sign that the neighbourhood is on the up. In contrast, living near an Aldi, for example, can take off almost £6,000 from property values.
Market town mark-up
The quaint charm of a market town, where you can buy your eggs from a farm stall, is enough to hoick up house prices by £25,000. The most expensive market town in England is Beaconsfield in South Buckinghamshire, which has the largest house price premium in the country, with homes trading at 189pc (or £652,178) above the national average.
High stakes for hills
You might think the idea of traipsing up a hill after a long day at work would serve as a deterrent, but according to research by Zoopla, having ‘Hill’ in your address doubles the average price of your property compared to those houses on comparatively duller, flatter streets.
Someone seems to have realised this and flat streets can now be found with names including the word ‘Hill’.
A Household name
If you’ve ever found beach huts with names like ‘Blue Bay’ endearing, you’re not the only one, unfortunately. Research by the website globtrix.com in 2011 found that a house name can add up to 5 per cent to the value of a property, with one in 14 people paying a premium for houses with their own name.
Gourmet grading
We are now such big fans top quality chow that areas with higher concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants command higher house prices – up to 50 per cent more than the regional average according to website primelocation.com.
May the odds be ever in your favour
For some inexplicable reason, oddly-numbered and low numbered houses will fetch on average £538 more than their even-numbered counterparts. This is because houses numbered 1 are often at the end of a street, sharing only one wall with neighbours and therefore attracting a price premium as a semi-detached property. Houses numbered 2 are often at the end of the street, but sometimes aren’t – so no.1 wins out as the most expensive house number.
Heavenly harbours
It’s common knowledge that a sea view makes pound signs light up in house-hunters’ eyes, but research by Knight Frank has found that estuary views and harbour views in the south-west command a premium of 82 and 81 per cent respectively – enough to make any buyer watery-eyed.