Across England and Wales, there are a number of notoriously haunted locations boasting everything from a murdered headless queen to the ghosts of Roman soldiers. In the spirit of Halloween, Nested took a look at the cost of buying in 13 of these haunted postcodes and how it compares to the wider area.
The research shows that the average price of property across these 13 petrifying postcodes comes in at £396,455 - 44% (£120,275), more than the average cost of buying across England and Wales (£276,180)
Highest haunted house price premiums
Newton House in Carmarthenshire, Wales, is said to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Elinor Cavendish who was strangled to death in the property. Visitors report experiencing invisible hands squeezing at their throats and the eerie presence of pipe smoke filling rooms even when no one is smoking.
Newton House lies within the SA19 postcode which is also home to an average house price of £351,010. The average cost of buying in the wider area of Carmarthenshire is £179,533, meaning it’s 96% more expensive to live in the shadows of this famous haunted house - the highest Halloween house price premium on the list.
Pluckley is a small village in Ashford, Kent. The whole village is said to be haunted with around 12 reported ghost sightings including a highwayman who was murdered and pinned to a tree and a schoolmaster who hung himself and is said to still roam the school grounds.
A property in Pluckley’s TN27 postcode costs £583,352 on average. The wider area of Ashford is home to an average price of £314,726. This means that living in this haunted village will cost Halloween homebuyers 85% more compared to the wider area.
The Ancient Ram Inn in Gloucestershire is said to have an extraordinarily spooky history including stories of burning witches and real evidence of Devil worship and ritual sacrifice on the site. Located in the GL12 postcode, a property will set you back £438,027, 43% more than the average of £132,668 across the wider area of Stroud.
Haunted house affordability
The haunted location with the smallest price premium for Halloween homebuyers is the infamous Blickling Hall in Norwich. This was once home to the Boleyn family and it’s said that the headless ghost of Anne - second wife of Henry VIII - still resides in the house.
The average cost of a home in Blickling Hall’s NR11 postcode is £327,525, compared to the wider average of£312,207 across Broadland. So while the area still carries a 5% haunted house price premium, it is the most affordable when compared to the wider cost of buying in the area.
In terms of outright affordability, Pendle Hill in Lancashire is home to the lowest cost of buying. Home to the 12 Pendle Witches, who are still thought to roam the village today, the average house price in the BB12 postcode is just £144,468.
Alice Bullard, Head of Commercial at Nested, commented: “A paranormal property purchase might not appeal to every homebuyer but it’s certainly a unique selling point above and beyond the more traditional features advertised by home sellers.
"It’s also likely to carry a haunting house price premium if our research is anything to go by and on average, buying in a haunted housing market will set you back 44% more.
"We certainly wouldn’t want to be the estate agent responsible for hosting viewings though.”
