Parents are willing to pay an average of £53,000 more to live in an area close to a top performing state school – an increase of £13,000 (31%) from last year – according to new research by Lloyds Bank.
Average property prices have now reached £366,744 in the postal districts of the top 30 state schools in England which achieved the strongest GCSE results in 2015, with homes typically trading at a premium of £53,426 (17%) compared to the county average of £313,318.
The postal districts of six of the 30 top state schools command a house price premium in excess of £150,000, compared to their surrounding areas. Properties in the postal district of Beaconsfield High School have the largest premium, with homes trading at £629,021 (171%) above the county average house price (£367,191), at almost £1 million.
House prices in the postal district of the Henrietta Barnett School trade at a premium of £429,506 (74%) compared to the whole of Barnet – the second highest premium; followed by Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Buckinghamshire (premium of £220,082) and the Tiffin Girls School in Kingston upon Thames (£192,011 premium).
Lloyds said that in addition to securing a place for their children at one of England’s current Top 30 state schools, buying a home nearby is also proving to be a shrewd investment. Parents who bought a home near one of the Top 30 schools just before their child first entered secondary school in 2011 have seen an average house price rise of £76,000, from £290,683 to £366,744, in 2016 – an increase of 26%. This is a significantly faster rise than in England as a whole, where the average house price has grown over the same period from £240,208 to £282,353 – an increase of £42,145 or 18%.
Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank’s mortgage products director, said: “Schools with the best exam performance are proving to be an increasingly strong draw for homemovers, as we’ve seen house prices rise sharply in locations close to such schools.
“Our analysis shows that since 2011 average house prices in areas with the best state schools have increased by £76,000, compared to a national increase of £42,145. And seven of the areas covered in this survey have seen house prices rise by over £100,000 in the last five years.
“The popularity of areas close to high performing schools may mean that homes remain unaffordable for buyers on average earnings.”
The average price increase is significantly higher in several individual postal districts with a top performing state school. In the postal district of The Henrietta Barnett School in Barnet (NW11), the average price has grown by £234,386 in the past five years – the highest rise in cash terms – to £1,011,016.
The next largest increases are in the postal districts that have Tiffin Girls School in Kingston upon Thames (KT2), with an average increase of £232,953, and Beaconsfield High School (HP9) in Beaconsfield (£228,829).
Over half of the areas in the top 30 have seen average house prices grow by at least £50,000 since 2011. They include Newstead Wood School in Bromley (£160,482), Sir William Borlase’s Grammar in Marlow (£110,727), Sutton Grammar in south London (£108,432) and The Skinners’ School in Tunbridge Wells (£104,403).