£91,000 ‘premium’ to buy house near top state school

Parents face a “premium” of around £91,000 to buy a house near a top state primary school, a study claims today.

Property website PrimeLocation.com looked at asking prices in areas around the top 100 state primary schools across England.

It found homes in top primary school areas command an average price of £309,732 – 42 per cent higher than the typical price of £218,114.

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Primary schools in the East Midlands commanded the biggest premiums, with asking prices 48 per cent higher than the regional average of £171,135. Homes near the Curbar and Grindleford primary schools in Hope Valley in Derbyshire command average prices of £442,692, which is 159 per cent higher than average.

Yorkshire’s top primary school areas are close behind, with average prices 47 per cent higher than the regional average of £157,718. Demand for properties near St Mary’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in Askham Richard, near York, helped prices rise to £275,642, 75 per cent higher than average.

The Department for Education said too often poorer families were left with the worst schools but it was turning around failing schools and opening free schools to offer the choice that currently “only the rich can afford”.