After analysing the price premium of six typical English village property types, the firm found that at £245 per square foot, properties once home to clergymen offer the best bang for your buck. However, sitting just £1 behind are manor houses, which, on average, value at £246 per square foot despite commanding the highest average sale price (£1,431,944).
On the opposite side of the spectrum, barn conversions prove the most expensive per square foot (£316), regardless of them often boasting large, open-plan living spaces. Barn conversions ranked as the second least expensive village home at £939,070, yet are also the second smallest, offering on average 2,963 square feet of space.
Unsurprisingly, manor houses continue to command the highest price premium of all English village homes analysed – more than six times greater than the UK average house price according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Despite being on average almost 1,500 square feet smaller than a manor house, farmhouses are the second most expensive property type – almost five times as much as the average home.
The timeless chocolate box cottage is the least expensive property type at £606,886. With an average square footage of 1,985, the cottage is the second most expensive property on a price per square foot basis.
The most popular quarter for an English village home to sell is in quarter three, with manor houses, barn conversions, farmhouses, and chocolate box cottages all selling particularly well during August. Mill conversions however prove most popular with buyers during the first half of Q1, with the majority of this property type selling through Jackson-Stops in January.
Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, comments: “Despite there being uncertainty in some pockets of the UK property market as a result of the current political climate, the English love affair with a quintessential country home remains. While the country market may not be as buoyant as it was a few years ago, beautiful homes in bucolic countryside, which are accurately priced, will always achieve strong interest and will continue to command significant price premiums.
Despite ranking as the first and third most expensive property type respectively, it was interesting to see manor houses and old rectories offering the best value for money per square foot. The vicar was often considered the most important individual in the village, only second to the lord or lady of the manor, and so the homes do tend to offer ample proportions. However, the data shows that, at around £245.50 per square metre, buying a manor house or an old rectory is much more realistic than it may have once been.
It’s not surprising to see that the majority of the English village property types tend to sell during the summer months, where potential buyers are able to view their striking and historic features and beautiful landscaped gardens in all their glory during the longer daylight hours. However, I was surprised to see a spike in popularity for mill conversions during the winter months. This tends to be a quieter period for the UK property market, however branches across the country from Shaftesbury to York have agreed sales on converted mills throughout December to February.”
