Parents pay over £50,000 more to live near a good school

New research shows the price premium families are willing to pay to live near to a top performing state school.

As pupils return to school after the summer holidays, Lloyds bank has released a study which shows parents are prepared to pay £53,000 more to live near a top school, an increase of £13,000 or 31% from last year.

Overall, to live close to the top 30 performing state schools in England which achieved the best GCSE results in 2015, you have to be prepared to pay £366,744, 17% or £53,426 more than the county average of £313,318.

Homes near Beaconsfield High School in Buckinghamshire attract the highest premium with house prices at an average of £629,021 or 171% more than the average house price in the neighbouring areas of £367,191, meaning homeowners must pay almost £1m to buy a home close to the school.

The postal districts of six of the 30 top state schools require a buyer to pay a premium of over £150,000 compared to prices in the surrounding areas.

House prices in the postal district of The Henrietta Barnett School cost £429,056 or 74% higher than the average found in the whole of Barnet, the second highest premium, followed by Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Buckinghamshire with a premium of £220,082 and then the Tiffin Girls School in Kingston upon Thames with a premium of £192,011.

However, if homeowners can manage to get a mortgage on a property in one of these areas as well as ensuring their children are in a catchment area of a successful state school, the owners can also reap the benefits of strong house price growth.

Parents who bought a home near to one of the top 30 schools just before their child started secondary school in 2-11 would have seen an average house price rise of £76,000, up from £290,683 to £366,744 in 2016, an increase of 26%, significantly more than the rise seen in property values across England, 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 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.”

Average price increases are significantly higher than this in specific individual postal districts. In Barnet, NW11, home to The Henrietta Barnett School 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 with an increase of £228,829.