Living near Waitrose boosts house prices
Properties near Sainsbury sold for 10% – £24,507 – more and houses near a branch of Tesco were worth an 8% – or £17,124 – than those in other locations.
Overall, the average house price in areas offering residents easy access to a local supermarket was about 7% – or £15,331 – more than other properties.
Lloyds Bank mortgages director Andy Hulme said: “It’s easy to assume the effect of different factors on the value of a property but this research enables us to clearly see that there is a significant association between the convenience of a local supermarket and house prices.
‘Commanding an average of over £15,000’
“With homes in areas close to national supermarkets commanding an average of over £15,000 more than those in the surrounding areas, having a grocery shop within easy reach appears to be high on the list for homebuyers looking for good access to local amenities.”
But closeness to some retailers can reduce the value of houses, the researchers claimed. Promixity to a branch of Aldi was said to reduce house prices by 3% and to a Lidl store by 2%.
However, Asda had no affect on local house prices.
The researchers reached their conclusions after comparing average prices in postal districts that included a national supermarket with other properties in the town in which they were located. That comparison enabled them to identify the average house price premium or discount associated with the proximity to some of the UK’s largest grocery retailers, said Lloyds.
Valuable neighbours
- Waitrose store adds 12% or £38.8k
- Sainsbury store adds 10% or £24.5k
- Tesco store adds 8% or £17.1k
Largest grocery retailers
The researchers also studied locations with the highest area to town house price premium. Chiswick in Hounslow, Ponteland in Newcastle and Golders Green in Barnet commanded the greatest average property prices when compared with the surrounding town average.
The average house price in Chiswick, with local access to a Waitrose, Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer, was £918,287. That represented a premium of 117% or £495,601 compared with the average price for the borough of Hounslow.
Not so valuable neighbours
- Aldi store cuts 3%
- Lidl store cuts 2%
- Asda store zero affect
Ponteland, with a Waitrose, Sainsbury and Co-op in the neighbourhood, and Golders Green, which has a Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer, have premiums of 110% – or £195,623 – and 88% – or £456,829 – respectively.
The greatest regional house price premium linked to supermarket location was in the West Midlands, where houses close to a local Waitrose commanded an average 37% – £66,130 – more than the surrounding town.
That was followed by the same supermarket in the North West 33% – or £63,921 – and London 14% – or £76,188.
More information on the Lloyds Bank report is available here.
