I was having a chat with a Hampstead property investor the
other day, when he asked if schools, especially primary schools, affected the
local property market in terms of demand from buyers and tenants to a property.
Anecdotally, I have always known this to
be true, a good school creates good demand and good demand does affect house
prices. So, I asked my colleagues on the
front line, who take the phone calls from people putting themselves on our
mailing list and they confirmed that most people cite location as their number
one factor.
After looking through our mailing list, it confirms there is
a close correlation between the high demand areas of Hampstead and the close
proximity to a good primary school. Talking
to my team in a recent morning meeting, they agreed many people would look to increase their budget quite
significantly, whilst others would consider downgrading their property requirements
to be close to a good primary school.
Those of you
who regularly read this blog will know I like a challenge, so I decided to look
at the science behind these assumptions. According to the SchoolGuide website, Christ
Church Primary School is one of the best primary schools in Hampstead. Its figures
are certainly impressive. Their last Ofsted Report classified it as
Outstanding, 100% of 11-year pupils achieving Level 4 or above in maths,
reading and writing whilst 67% of them achieved level 5. There is also a great
pupil/teacher ratio of 19:1. Finally, the schools’ KS2 rating was classed as Excellent.
Looking at property sales within half a mile of Christ
Church, property values have risen since 2001 by 206.67%, whilst according to the
Land Registry, the Camden average as a whole has risen in
the same time frame by 163.19%.
That means the parents of
Christ Church have seen the values of their properties rise proportionally
26.64% more than the Hampstead average ... interesting don’t you think?
However,
whilst a good primary school significantly contributes more to house prices,
the same can’t be said for secondary schools. There are two reasons for this,
firstly, as secondary schools are much larger, so their catchment areas are correspondingly
much larger, meaning parents don’t need to live so close to the school. Secondly,
in the UK, whilst the difference between the top 25% and bottom 25% of
secondary schools is not insignificant, in the primary school sector, the
difference between the top 25% and bottom 25%, according to the London School
of Economics, is considerably and significantly more.
Many other Hampstead landlords, both who
are with us and many who are with other Hampstead agents, like to ring/email us
to discuss the Hampstead property market, to consider how Hampstead compares
with its closest rivals and hopefully we can answer all their questions. You
must take lots of advice and seek out the best opinion. One good source of
opinion, specific to the Hampstead property market is the Hampstead Property
Blog www.NW3propertyblog.com I don’t bite, I don’t do hard sell, and I will just give you my honest
and straight talking opinion.
If you are looking for an agent with experience that can help you find the right tenant for your property, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property. Email me on chris@ashmoreresidential.com or give me a call on 020 7435 0420. Pop in for a chat – we are based on Ashmore Residential, Suite 7, 25-27 Heath Street, London, NW3 6TR. The kettle is always on.
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