Study reveals cost of buying a house near a high-performing state school

Parents seeking to buy a house within the catchment area of a good school can expect to pay a premium of up to £630,000, new research has revealed.

Lloyds Bank analysed average property prices in the postal districts of the 30 state schools in England that achieved the strongest GCSE results in 2015, and found that homes in these areas typically trade at a premium of £53,426 – 17% higher than house prices outside the school catchment area.

But parents in some areas face paying a much higher premium.

Properties in the postal district of Beaconsfield High School, Buckinghamshire, have the largest premium, with homes trading at £629,021 above the county average house price of £367,191, according to the research

Lloyds said buying a property near a top-performing state school can be a “shrewd investment”.

It said parents who bought a home near one of the top 30 schools just before their child first entered secondary school in 2011 have seen an average house price rise of £76,000.

This is a significantly faster rise than in England as a whole, where the average house price has grown by £42,145 over the same period.

Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, said: “Schools with the best exam performance are proving to be an increasingly strong draw for home movers, as we’ve seen house prices rise sharply in locations close to such schools.”

But he continued: “The popularity of areas close to high performing schools may mean that homes remain unaffordable for buyers on average earnings.”

Lloyds used Land Registry house price figures as well as 2015 GCSE performance data from the Department for Education.