Parents are paying a house price premium of £31,500 to live close to a top state school, according to new research out today.
Parents looking to purchase a home close to one of the country's top 30 performing state schools face paying an average house price of £295,972, according to research by Lloyds Bank.
Average property prices in the postal districts of the top 30 state schools in England – defined as those secondary schools that achieved the best GCSE results1 in 2012 - were on average £31,490 (12%) higher than neighbouring locations in their county (£264,482).
Nine of the 30 top state schools are in locations that command a house price premium of over £80,000 compared to their surrounding locations.
Homes in the postal district of the Henrietta Barnett School in North London have the largest premium with homes trading at a premium of 87% (£402,600) to the average house price in neighbouring areas. Homes within the postal district ofTiffin Girls' School and Tiffin (Boys') School in Kingston-upon-Thames command the second highest premium with house prices in the postal district of KT2 at a premium of 51% (£207,591) to the average for the borough. (See Table)
However, more than a third of England's top 30 state schools – 12 in total - are in locations where the average property price is below the average of those in neighbouring areas. With an average price of £94,843, properties in the postal district of King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham (B21) are 42% (or £67,738) below the county average.
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In cash terms, the largest discount can be found in the area close to both Kendrick School and Reading School where the average house price in RG1 of £202,721 is £108,033 lower than the county average.
The postal districts of the top performing secondary state schools in six of the nine English regions command a house price premium compared to their county average. The North West has the largest premium with average house prices in the postal districts of the top 10 state schools in the region trading 28% (£43,142) above the average house price in their county. This is followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (premium of 18%) and London (15%).
In contrast, homes in the East Midlands that are close to the best performing state schools are, on average, 6% lower than in neighbouring locations. Average property prices are also below those of surrounding areas in the South West (-4%) and the South East (-3%).
Those on average earnings are finding it difficult to purchase a property close to many of the best state schools.
The average house price of £295,972 in the postal districts of the 30 best performing state schools is almost nine (8.8) times average gross annual earnings (£33,740). This is significantly higher than the average across England of 7.3 times average gross annual earnings.
Homes within the postal district of the Henrietta Barnett School – the most expensive in this survey - are the least affordable with the typical property price of £863,340 in this part of north London almost twenty-one times (20.6) gross average annual earnings in the area. Houses in the postal district of the Tiffin Girls' School and the Tiffin School are the second least affordable (13.3).
In contrast, properties in the postal district of King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham - the least expensive in this survey at £94,843 - are the most affordable with a house price to earnings ratio of 3.3.
Nitesh Patel, housing economist, Lloyds Bank said: "All parents want to ensure their children have access to the best schools, so it is not surprising that homes in areas close to the top performing state schools typically command a significant premium over neighbouring areas.
"However, with the availability of suitable homes in short supply, high demand has led to average prices in many of these areas being out of reach for many buyers on average earnings."