House buyers pay up to 122% more to live in one of Britain's most beautiful areas

If you’ve set your heart on a property nestled in one of Britain’s protected green spaces, brace yourself. Buyers pay roughly one and a half times the average local house price for the pleasure, according to Savills.

The average price tag of a property within a National Park stands at £422,225. That’s 51% more than the county average of £279,171, the estate agent’s analysis of Land Registry data reveals.

Meanwhile, the typical home within a National Landscape (previously known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) sets buyers back £581,121, a 48% premium.

And in Scotland, buyers pay an average £285,175 to live in a National Scenic Area, a 46% premium.

Together, National Parks, National Landscapes and National Scenic Areas cover around 22% of Britain, says Savills.

So which beauty spot commands the highest premium? Chichester Harbour takes the crown, with homes in the National Landscape costing an average 122.1% more than the county average.

Frances McDonald, director of research at Savills, explains: ‘Straddling Hampshire and West Sussex, and home to unspoilt villages such as Itchenor which enjoys views of both the countryside and coast, average sold prices are now 15.6% more than they were a year ago to live in the Conservancy.’

It’s followed by the Gower National Landscape in Wales, where properties are worth 121.8% more than the county average.

Homes in Loch Lomond in Scotland (114.4%), the New Forest in Hampshire and Wiltshire (105.1%), and the Lake District in Cumbria (103.7%), are also more than double the price of the average property in the county.

The Mendip Hills in Somerset, North Arran in Scotland, Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Lynn of Lorn in Scotland, and Howardian Hills in North Yorkshire, complete Savills' top 10.

It’s not just green spaces that attract chunky premiums. Separate research from Savills reveals that across London, asking prices for homes with two bathrooms are typically 31% higher (on a price per square foot basis) than those with only one bathroom. Outside the capital, there’s a 20% uplift in asking prices of homes with two bathrooms compared with those with just one. Whether buyers are prepared to pay these asking prices is another matter.

Supply of homes for sale at eight-year high

Good news for buyers scratching around for a home to buy. The supply of properties for sale is 20% higher than this time last year, according to Zoopla.

The average estate agent has 31 homes for sale, the highest level in eight years. This has been fuelled by 'a rebound' in the number of larger homes put on the market. The level of sales agreed is up by a more modest 13% year-on-year.

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, says: ‘The growth in the supply of homes for sale is evidence of renewed confidence amongst homeowners, some of whom delayed moving decisions in 2023.’

He adds: ‘The announcement of the election will slow the pace at which new sales are agreed, while greater choice for buyers will keep house prices in check over 2024.’

Housing market ‘resilient’ amid 'improvement in confidence'

Two major high street lenders have pointed to the ‘resilience’ of the housing market in their latest UK house price updates.

Nationwide reports that house prices climbed 0.4% in May, and the annual rate of growth picked up to 1.3%. Meanwhile fellow lender Halifax says that house prices edged down 0.1% in May, while the annual rate of growth was up 1.5%.

‘Market activity remained resilient throughout the spring months, supported by strong nominal wage growth and some evidence of an improvement in confidence about the economic outlook,’ says Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages, Halifax.

‘This has been reflected in a broadly stable picture in terms of property price movements, with the average cost of a property little changed over the last three months.’

Rental growth at its lowest level for more than two years

There’s light at the end of the tunnel for renters who’ve been clobbered by soaring rents: rental growth has slowed to 6.6%, the lowest level since October 2021. The average monthly rent in the UK is now £1,226 per month, according to Zoopla.

That said, renters still have a battle on their hands. There are 15 renters competing for every rental home. That’s more than double the pre-pandemic average, when there were six renters vying for each property.

Affordability remains a ‘growing challenge’, with the proportion of gross earnings spent on rent at the highest level for 10 years, says the portal. It ranges from 41% in London to 21% in Scotland.

Stuck in conveyancing limbo this summer? Here’s what else you could be doing…

And now for some sobering stats from Home Sale Park. The firm says that it currently takes an average 154 days (in other words, 22 weeks) to complete the paperwork associated with buying a home.

So what else could the estimated 370,000-odd movers ‘stuck in conveyancing limbo’ this summer do to fill 22 weeks? Home Sale Pack has some suggestions:

• fly from London to Sydney 168 times
• drive around the world almost 7.5 times
• walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats nearly twice
• take 11 fortnight-long summer holidays
• slightly more radically (and assuming money is no object), fly to the moon and back almost 26 times.

Do you have any better ideas? If so, let us know…

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