Parents need to pay almost £41,000 extra to secure a home close to the country’s top performing state secondary schools, according to new research by Lloyds Bank.
This year, 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 (13%) higher than the neighbouring locations in their counties.
Overall, average property prices have now reached £344,446 in the postal districts (postal districts being HP9, NW11 or BR6 as examples), of the top 30 state schools in England. This is higher than their county averages (£303,738), by an average £40,728 (13%).
The postal districts of six of the 30 top state schools command a house price premium of over £125,000 compared to their surrounding locations. Homes in the postal district of Beaconsfield High School in Beaconsfield have the largest premium with homes trading at £636,132 (186%) above the average house price in neighbouring areas (£342,166).
House prices in the postal district of The Henrietta Barnett School in Barnet trade at a premium of £418,860 (76%) – the second highest; followed by St. Olave’s and St. Saviour’s Grammar School in Orpington (£180,447) and the Tiffin schools in Kingston upon Thames (£137,665).
16 of England’s top 30 state schools are in locations with an average property price below their neighbouring areas’ average. Properties in the postal district of Aylesbury High School (HP21) trade at a discount of £122,506 (or 36%) compared to the county average (£342,166). The next largest price discounts (in cash terms), of £119,485, are in Reading, where Reading School and Kendrick School are located. These schools are followed by Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet (£95,681) and Westcliff High School for Boys Academy in Essex (£58,970).
Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, said: “In general, homes close to the nation’s top performing state schools command a significant premium over neighbouring areas. The presence of a top performing state school appears to help support property values in many of these locations as parents compete with other buyers to land the property that gives their child the best possible chance to attend their chosen school.”
The postal districts of the top performing secondary state schools in seven of the nine English regions command a house price premium compared to their county average. The North West has the largest premium with average house prices in the postal districts of the top ten state schools in the region trading at £66,398 (39%) above the average house price in their county. This is followed by East Anglia (£48,642 or 20%) and the South East (£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 (£267,956) of 7.7 times average gross annual earnings.
The least affordable homes are those with a typical property 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, property price is just under 23 times (22.9) gross local average annual earnings in the area. Houses in the postal district of the Beaconsfield High School are the second least affordable (22.1).
In contrast, the most affordable properties 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.
