Unlucky for some but those who dare buy number 13 can win

A fear of the number 13 can impact on the value and saleability of homes
Fear of the number 13 can affect home values and salesFear of the number 13 can affect home values and sales
Fear of the number 13 can affect home values and sales

Superstitious Yorkshire home buyers could be scared by the number 13. All the other properties on a luxury 14 home development at Worrall, north east of Sheffield, sold quickly, with four plots being reserved during the opening weekend.

But the four bedroomed detached home occupying plot 13 at Hall Farm Court remains on the market a full seven months after going on sale. Stuart Marshall, Sales Executive with developer Linden Homes West Yorkshire, said: “Given the location of the development, in a popular, picturesque village, with rural surroundings and yet within easy reach of major towns and cities, we expected the homes to sell quickly. That proved to be the case except for this one.

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“It is one of the larger properties on the site and enjoys the same high level of fixtures and fittings and has a decent sized garden, so the only thing we can put it down to is superstition. It seems the people who’ve visited just don’t like number 13.”

Research by the property website Zoopla suggests that, when it comes to buying and selling, houses with the number 13 on the door cost up to £6,500 less than neighbouring homes, a statistic backed up by information from the Land Registry. It isn’t just the door number that people avoid, they also tend to stay away from buying houses on the 13th day of the month. There is a drop in transaction of almost a third on that day compared to the monthly average.

In the past 10 years, there has been a 34 per cent drop in the number of houses numbered 13 coming on to the market. This may be partially explained by the fact that around 28 per cent of streets don’t actually have one. Some councils have banned them all together, including Durham County Council, Lewes District Council and Herefordshire County Council, while in other places, developers have decided against giving one of their properties a supposedly unlucky number.

The most famous street in Britain, Downing Street, which has 20 properties, doesn’t have a number 13. It used to but it disappeared more than a century ago, following a fire. Although the house was rebuilt, it is now number 12 and houses the Premier’s Press Office, Strategic Communications Unit and Information and Research Unit.

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Triskaidekaphobia is the term given to fear of 13 – a long-standing superstition with various origins. In numerology, 12 is considered the number of completeness –12 months in the year, 12 gods of Olympus etc.

There is also a superstition, derived from Norse myth, that having 13 people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners – reaffirmed in Christianity by Jesus and the 12 Apostles at the Last Supper.

As well as housing developments without a number 13, it is not uncommon for the 13th floor of a high rise building to be renumbered or skipped. Many airlines do not have a row 13 on their planes and hotels often miss out room 13.

Emma Butcher of Linden Homes says: “This has certainly given us some food for thought with future developments but for now we’re going to throw out a challenge at Hall Farm Court. If anyone is prepared to buy the house on the 13th day of the month, we’ll provide them with £13,000 worth of incentives.”

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Those unafraid to view the home – the Langsett, priced £465,000 – can do so between 10.30am and 5pm, Thursdays to Mondays at S35 0AQ. More information is available at www.lindenhomes.co.uk and search Worrall.