House prices achieve premium in spa towns

 

Property prices in spa towns across England and Wales are on average £38,000 (or 16%) above their county average, according to Lloyds TSB research.
Average house prices in 15 of 18 spa towns surveyed are significantly higher than those in neighbouring towns.
Boston Spa (£153,629, or 98%) and Ilkley (£152,022, or 97%) - both in West Yorkshire - command the highest house price premium to their county average. Only three spa towns have house prices below their county average: Epsom in Surrey (-5%), Llandrindod Wells in Powys (-7%), and Boston in Lincolnshire (-15%).
Some 15 spa towns have seen houses prices at least double in the past decade. The largest increase was in Builth Wells in Powys (153%) followed by Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire (143%), Boston Spa (141%) and Matlock in Derbyshire (140%).
* Epsom is the most expensive spa town in the country with an average house price of £357,837, followed by Tunbridge Wells (£337,144) and Bath (£324,250);
* The least expensive spa towns are Boston in Lincolnshire with an average price of £132,912 and Llandrindod Wells in Wales (£168,428).
Nitesh Patel, Housing Economist at Lloyds TSB, said: "Spa towns tend to have a larger stock of period architecture, such as Georgian or Regency, which are often larger and command higher prices. Spa towns are also often thought of as having a high quality of life, including excellent schools, lower crime rates, and lesser traffic volumes, all of which drive desirability in these areas and ramp up value. It all adds up to a significant success story for the housing market in these areas."
* Homebuyers must part with over £100,000 more to live in one of the spa towns in Yorkshire's "Golden Triangle". House prices in the spa towns of Boston Spa, Ilkley, Harrogate and Knaresborough are, on average, £105,000 (or 59%) higher than their county average;
*  The average age of the housing stock in spa towns is 67 years, which is 13 years older than for the UK (54). Bath and Matlock have the oldest housing stocks with an average property age of 92 years;
* Houses in spa towns also tend to be bigger than in the UK as a whole, with an average of 5.5 habitable rooms compared to the national average of 5.2. The largest houses are in Ilkley and Malvern with an average of 5.8 habitable rooms in both towns.