"Our military towns are often located in desirable parts of the country and, as such, command hefty price premiums"
- Tim Simmons - Regency Living
The Labour government has announced plans to boost military spending by £2.2bn, some of which will be spent “capitalising on the opportunity presented to buy-back the MOD Service Family housing stock…and provide our military families with the homes they deserve”.
And while military towns often have a reputation of being somewhat dilapidated and outdated, they actually tend to be located in highly attractive parts of the country due to the fact that they require access to the sea or large green expanses used for military training exercises.
In fact, Regency Living’s new research reveals the postcodes that house 12 of the UK’s prominent military towns command an average house price premium of 12.8% compared to their respective wider Local Authority (LA) district areas.
The average price across the 12 postcode areas that contain bases such as RNAS Culdrose, Aldershot Garrison, and RAF Cranwell stands at £356,162, while the average across their LA districts is £315,804.
The Royal Navy’s RNAS Culdrose is home to the biggest premium of all. It is located in the TR12 postcode area where the average house price stands at £456,724. This marks a staggering premium of 57.5% compared to the wider Local Authority district of Cornwall, which has an average price of £289,937.
In Scotland, the G84 postcode area is home to HMNB Clyde and also has an average house price of £259,276. This marks a price premium of 51.1% compared to the wider Argyll and Bute LA average of £171,554.
RAF Northolt is located in the HA4 postcode area, where the average house price of £580,772 is 21.6% higher than that of the wider Hillingdon LA district (£477,485).
Aldershot Garrison’s GU11 / GU12 postcode area commands a price premium of 13.5%, followed by RAF Halton in HP22 (10.5%), HMNB Portsmouth in PO1 (4.8%), and Warminster Garrison in BA12 (3.5%).
“Our military towns are often located in desirable parts of the country and, as such, command hefty price premiums," comments sales & marketing director at Regency Living, Tim Simmons. "If the government does indeed invest money to improve these areas, it is likely to drive local prices up even further. Plus, the government’s plans to ‘buy-back’ MOD Service Family homes are going to reduce the amount of stock available to non-serving buyers, which will push prices up even more.
"This is going to cause a problem for those members of the military who are approaching retirement. Many of them will have laid down roots in the areas around their respective bases and will be reluctant to move away from these communities and the friendships they have made when they retire.
"However, once they’ve left the military, they will no longer be entitled to live in the quarters provided to serving members and, due to the huge house price premiums, may struggle to be able to afford a property while remaining nearby."
He adds, "The park home property market is filling a gap in this respect, providing an affordable option for military retirees who wish to remain within their current locations without paying the high prices associated with the bricks and mortar property market.
"So we welcome any service members who are approaching retirement to come and speak to us about the possibility of buying a home on one of our beautiful sites where not only will they be able to remain close to their existing communities, but will also become part of a brand new community of like-minded people of a similar age.”
