Buying a home near a British stately home costs on average £40,000 more

Buying a house close to one of Britain’s many stately homes can cost on average £41,000 more than in neighbouring areas, but they also grow in value, new research shows.

The average house price in an area with a stately home was £319,203 in May 2015 compared to an average of £277,990, a premium of £41,213 or 15%, according to a study by UK lender, the Halifax.

Indeed, it found that some 76% of postal areas with stately homes have higher house prices than neighbouring locations and overall prices command a premium relative to the surrounding area in 54 of the 71 stately homes covered in this survey.

Homes close to Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath currently command the highest premium of £770,023 or 120% in cash terms, followed by Ham House in Richmond upon Thames at £513,918 or 116% and Ightham Mote in Sevenoaks at £231,230 or 82%.

Outside southern England the areas with stately homes commanding the highest premiums are Tabley House, Tatton Park and Peover Hall and Gardens, all in Knutsford in Cheshire, with an average house price premium of £181,517 or 83%.

In all, there are 14 areas with stately homes where listings trade at an average premium of at least £150,000. They include Winterbourne House and Garden in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham at £162,551 or 91%, Highclere Castle, setting of the TV drama Downton Abbey, in Newbury at £155,532 or 44% and Chatsworth House in Bakewell at £154,063 or 89%.

The research also found that owners of listings in areas close to Britain’s many stately homes have seen the value of their home rise by an average of £89,506 over the past decade, from £229,697 in 2005 to £319,203 in 2015. The 39% increase in the average listing price is equivalent to a monthly rise of £746.

In cash terms, the average price growth of £89,506 in areas with stately homes is more than twice the national increase of £39,311 or 22%, which has grown from £178,016 to £217,328 in 2015.

Average house prices in nearly all stately home areas in the survey increased in the past decade. The largest price growth was in the area of Kenwood House at £822,810 or 140%, followed by Ham House at £451,123 or 89%, and Hatfield House in Hatfield at £228,367 or 71%.

The only area to record a fall in average price since 2005 is Coleraine in Northern Ireland, home to Downhill House and Mussenden Temple at a fall of 10% or £12,977.

However, there are 17 areas with stately homes where listings trade at a discount to neighbouring areas. The largest discount compared to average house prices is around Wimpole Hall in Royston, where prices are typically around £50,000 or 13% lower than in the county of Hertfordshire.

This is followed by Saltram House in Plymouth with values £40,903 or 18% lower, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight lower by £32,071 or 16% despite the house being a favourite holiday home of Queen Victoria and a Royal residence until her death there in 1901.

The most expensive postal towns around stately homes are all in southern England
Homes close to Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath are the most expensive in this survey, with an average price of £1,409,102. Kenwood House is followed by the area surrounding Ham House in Richmond upon Thames at £956,040, Hatfield House in Hatfield at £549,654 and the area around Ightham Mote in Sevenoaks at £514,572.

In contrast, the least expensive areas around stately homes are all in the north. Property values in the areas around Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland are the lowest in this survey with an average house price of £104,391. The next lowest are in the areas around the Argory in Dungannon in Northern Ireland at £119,967 and Llancaiach Fawr Manor in Treharris in Wales at £120,115.

‘Stately homes are not only attractive place to visit but, as our research shows, desirable places to live near to,’ said Martin Ellis, Housing Economist at Halifax.

‘Since 2005 the average house price growth in areas close to stately homes has been more than double the national figure. It can cost home buyers, on average, £41,000 extra to live nearby to a stately home compared to neighbouring areas,’ he added.

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Source: Property News Spain