"Many buyers may not realise just how much of a premium they could be paying for the pleasure of living close to a ‘free’ park."
HouseSimple.com looked at average property prices close to a main park in each of the UK’s 50 biggest towns and cities and compared them to the average property price for the area to see what premium home buyers might have to pay to buy a property close to a park.
The research revealed that average property prices in streets that are close to local parks are 19% higher than average property prices for the town or city. That means the price of having a ‘free’ park on your doorstep commands an average premium of almost £41,000.
Top of the tree is Priory Park in Southend-on-Sea, with the value of property close to or overlooking the park, 165% or £444,177 more expensive than the average property price for the town. Aberdeen’s Westfield Park, the largest park in the Bridge of Don area, also commands a hefty premium to live near – a whopping 63%, with average properties costing £360,324 compared to the average property price across Aberdeen of £221,413.
As you might expect, buyers will pay a substantial premium of 85% to buy a property in the streets surrounding London’s Hyde Park. That’s £555,316 for the privilege of living within a stone’s throw of London’s largest Royal Park.
The following table shows the parks that add the highest average percentage premium on property prices to live near:
|
City |
Park |
Average property price for town/city (£) |
Average property price in streets close to park (£) |
Percentage difference (%) |
|
Southend-on-Sea |
Priory Park |
£269,174 |
£713,351 |
165.01% |
|
London |
Hyde Park |
£650,862 |
£1,206,178 |
85.32% |
|
Aberdeen |
Westfield Park |
£221,413 |
£360,324 |
62.74% |
|
Newcastle |
Town Moor Park |
£195,350 |
£290,750 |
48.84% |
|
Cardiff |
Roath park |
£182,862 |
£272,087 |
48.79% |
|
Middlesbrough |
Stewart Park |
£140,961 |
£202,012 |
43.31% |
|
Edinburgh |
Inverleith Park |
£261,258 |
£373,710 |
43.04% |
|
Oxford |
Botley Park |
£479,465 |
£666,056 |
38.92% |
|
Poole |
Whitecliff Harbourside Park |
£325,365 |
£421,105 |
29.43% |
|
Norwich |
Eaton Park |
£248,078 |
£314,205 |
26.66% |
|
Liverpool |
Sefton Park |
£156,007 |
£196,686 |
26.08% |
|
Swansea |
Cwmdonkin Park |
£166,001 |
£204,866 |
23.41% |
|
Bradford |
Lister Park |
£123,402 |
£144,737 |
17.29% |
|
Bournemouth |
Upper Gardens |
£269,077 |
£303,896 |
12.94% |
|
Coventry |
Lake view park |
£182,862 |
£205,870 |
12.58% |
Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com comments: “In large urban sprawls where many properties don’t have a garden or access to a communal garden, living near public parks or green spaces is often one of the top wishes amongst buyers, and that high demand inevitably impacts on the price they will pay.
Many buyers may not realise just how much of a premium they could be paying for the pleasure of living close to a ‘free’ park. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good value properties around some of the UK’s urban green spaces, but for real value it’s maybe worth looking at roads that are a few minutes further away.”
