The street names that put off buyers

HouseSimple looked at the number of house sales over the past 20 years on some of the UK’s more unusually named streets; such as Backside Lane, Stalin Road and Spanker Lane, and compared with the number of house sales on adjoining streets with more conventional names, that aren’t likely to make people chuckle or cringe.

Take Dumbwomans Lane, in Rye – a street name likely to raise quite a few eyebrows. Not surprisingly, house sales have been few and far between since 1997, with four times fewer house sales (-333%) than on neighbouring Station Road.

Spiders Lane (-308%), which is likely to tap into many peoples’ phobias, and Lickers Lane (-306%), possibly too embarrassing for many buyers, have also had four times fewer property sales than on neighbouring streets Lime Grove and Parkwood Road.

Devils Lane and Stalin Road may not sit comfortably with many buyers, and that’s possibly reflected in the number of house sales over the past two decades on these streets. Neighbouring Chiltley Lane has had more than three times (243%) more house sales than on Devils Lane. And Stalin Road, sharing its name with the Soviet Union dictator, has had 70% fewer house sales than nearby Barn Hall Avenue.

While, Rats Lane has had just five sales since 1997 and Loveless Gardens only four sales.

The following table lists some of the more unusual, controversial and extreme street names in the UK, and compares the number of house sales over the past 20 years with sales on neighbouring streets.

Surprisingly, on two of the streets HouseSimple.com researched, the number of sales were actually higher on the more unusually named street. Possibly tapping into the British sense of humour, Crotch Crescent and Titty Ho, have likely raised a few chuckles over the years. But they also seem to have boosted house sales, with sales on Crotch Crescent 15% higher than nearby Derwent Avenue and 34% higher on Titty Ho than on neighbouring Wellington Road.  

Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com comments: "Buyers will often pay more to live on an Avenue or Crescent versus a Street or Road. However, the actual name of a street could also have a significant impact on the salability and value of your house.

An unusual street name shouldn’t be the reason you don’t buy a property, particularly if it’s your dream house, but just bear in mind that you’re going to be reminded daily of the street you live on, so you need to be comfortable with the name if it’s a little out of the ordinary.”