Top catchment area house price premiums revealed

Parents face a "premium" of around £91,000 to buy a house near a top state primary school, a study suggested today.

Property website PrimeLocation.com looked at asking prices in the surrounding areas of the top 100 state primary schools across England, using official education figures.

It found that homes in top primary school areas command an average price of £309,732, which is £91,618 or 42% higher than the typical price of £218,114.

Nigel Lewis, a property analyst at PrimeLocation.com, said: "Analysis conducted by PrimeLocation.com in September 2011 revealed that living near one of the 50 best secondary schools in the UK adds an extra £77,000 to the value of a home - £14,000 less than living near one of the nation's top primary schools."

Primary schools in the East Midlands were found to command the biggest premiums in percentage terms, with asking prices £82,000, or 48% higher than the regional average of £171,135.

Homes near the Curbar and Grindleford primary schools in Hope Valley, Derbyshire, command average prices of £442,692, which is £271,557 or 159% higher than the East Midlands average.

Yorkshire and Humberside's top primary school areas are close behind with average prices £75,000 or 47.4% higher than the region generally.

Demand for properties near St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in Askham Richard, York, has helped prices to rise to £275,642, which is 75% higher than the regional average, researchers said.

While the added value of living near a top primary school in the North West stands at around £52,000, properties near St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School in Hurst Green, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, have a typical asking price of £572,421, which is two-and-a-half-times the price for the area.

However, asking prices in areas close to top-ranked primary schools in London, which is generally seeing stronger house price rises than other regions due to strong overseas buyer interest, attracted the smallest premiums, with prices 7.4% higher.

Mr Lewis said: "While asking prices in the capital are on average higher than the rest of the UK, it has the lowest primary school premium in the country.

"This could be because external influences on house prices here are much stronger and high population density means there's more competition for homes in London, even without the lure of living near a top primary school."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Too often the poorest families are left with the worst schools while the rich can pay their way to a good education.

"That's why we are raising standards by turning around failing schools and opening new free schools to give all parents the choice that currently only the rich can afford."

Here are the typical asking prices by region, the average asking prices near top primary schools and the "premium" paid in percentage terms:

1. East Midlands, £171,135, £253,238, 48%

2. Yorkshire and Humberside, £157,718, £232,518, 47.4%

3. West Midlands, £176,519, £253,883, 43.8%

4. South East, £271,367, £371,823, 37%

5. East of England, £210,981, £283,179, 34.2%

6. North West, £163,124, £215,951, 32.4%

7. North East, £148,121, £191,439, 29.2%

8. South West, £236,085, £300,514, 27.3%

9. London, £460,386, £494,678, 7.4%

PA