Access to a good school is a major consideration when parents with school-age children decide where to live, but homes with access to high-quality schools come with a significant house price premium attached, a survey by Savills Research has shown.
And this premium has increased as a result of the recession.
Homes in the vicinity of the top-performing 25% of secondary schools now cost 16% more than their county average, up from 13% in 2007. At the extreme, homes in areas with a combination of good state and independent school options can be worth two or three times their county average. In stark contrast, house prices around schools in the bottom quarter of the performance tables averaged 10% less than the county average.
During the recent downturn, property prices around the top-performing 25% of schools fell by just under 16% but prices for homes in the vicinity of the bottom 25% of schools dropped by more than 19%, suggesting that good schools can help to recession-proof a home.
"On the face of it these are not massive differences, but they're significant," said Lucian Cook, director of Savills Research.
"It’s hard to conclude a direct cause and effect but it is clear from our analysis that a good education – state or private – almost invariably comes with an added cost in terms of the price of local property."
Cook expects the educational hotspots to lead the way when a sustained residential market recovery sets in.
"Areas around good schools tend to attract the more affluent buyers with more equity, and they’re the ones we expect to lead the way in any recovery. Whether state or independent, it seems almost inevitable that a good education comes with a high price tag."
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