Parents Face House Price Premiums Topping 221% to Live Near England's Top-50 Secondary Schools

Demand for housing near to the top 50 secondary schools in England is so high that you have to pay an average 16.6% premium on the price of a property when compared with other homes in the local authority area.

That is according to a report from the estate agency Knight Frank, which drew on data from the Department for Education and Land Registry.

In one area in Kent the premium is 221% just to get near to the private Sevenoaks School, which is ranked as third best in England based on A-level results in the 2012/13 year.

The average house price within a one mile radius of Sevenoaks School is £617,715. For the local authority area as a whole, the average is £192,424.

However, in some places there is a discount for property nearby to decent schools, relative to the local authority area's average price.

The largest discount was within one mile of Scarborough College, an independent school in North Yorkshire ranked 48<sup>th in England. The average price of £100,875 is 41% below the local authority area's average of £170,969.

And the regional picture differs too. The North East of England commands the biggest property price premium of 46.8% to get within one mile of a top-50 secondary school, while densely populated London registered the smallest at 4.9%.

"When deciding on a location for their family, parents can place a great deal of focus on the level and quality of education that local schools can provide and as a result good schools can be an important driver of local property markets," said Oliver Knight of Knight Frank's residential research department.

"Our research highlights this, showing that in general people are willing to pay a significant premium for a home close to some of the UK's best schools. However, the size of the price uplift varies and it will be affected by the location and the type of housing stock on offer in a given area."