Homes in England near top state schools sell at large premium, new study shows

Homes near England’s top state schools have an average price of £344,466 and parents face paying over £40,000 more to buy a home in their catchment areas, new research has found.

Homes near Beaconsfield High School in Buckinghamshire have the highest premium of £636,132 or 186% compared to the average house price in neighbouring areas, according to the study from Lloyds Bank.

Regionally the largest premium paid to live near the best state schools is in the North West, with discounts seen around schools in the East Midlands and the South West.

Overall in 2015, house prices in the postal districts of the top 30 state schools in England, defined as those secondary schools that achieved the best GCSE results in 2014, were on average £40,728 or 13% higher than the neighbouring locations in their counties.

House prices in the postal district of The Henrietta Barnett School in Barnet had a premium of £418,860 or 76%, the second highest, followed by St. Olave’s and St. Saviour’s Grammar School in Orpington with a premium of £180,447 and the Tiffin schools in Kingston upon Thames with a premium of £137,665.

But over half, some 16, of England’s top 30 state schools are in locations with an average listing price below their neighbouring areas’ average. Properties in the postal district of Aylesbury High School, for example, sell at £122,506 or 36% less than the county average of £342,166.

The next largest price discounts in cash terms at 119,485 are in Reading, where Reading School and Kendrick School are located. These schools are followed by Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet at £95,681 and Westcliff High School for Boys Academy in Essex at £58,970.

‘In general, homes close to the nation’s top performing state schools command a significant premium over neighbouring areas,’ said Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgages director .

‘The presence of a top performing state school appears to help support listing values in many of these locations as parents compete with other buyers to land the listing that gives their child the best possible chance to attend their chosen school,’ he added.

The North West has the largest premium with average house prices in the postal districts of the top ten state schools in the region selling at £66,398 or 39% above the average house price in their county. This is followed by East Anglia at £48,642 or 20% and the South East at £45,871 or 15%.

In contrast, homes in the East Midlands and the South West that are close to the best performing state schools are, on average, around £6,600 or 3% lower than in neighbouring locations.

The average house price of £344,466 in the postal districts of the 30 best performing state schools is 9.2 times average gross annual earnings. This is significantly higher than the average across England at £267,956 or 7.7 times average gross annual earnings.

The least affordable homes are those with a typical listing price of £971,882 within the postal district of The Henrietta Barnett School, the second most expensive in this survey. In this part of Barnet, listing price is 22.9 times gross local average annual earnings in the area. Houses in the postal district of the Beaconsfield High School are the second least affordable at 22.1 times.

In contrast, the most affordable listings with a house price to earnings ratio of 4.7 are in the postal district of the King Edward VI Five Ways School in West Midlands, the least expensive in this survey at £138,759.

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Source: Property News Spain