British pay thousands more to live in spa towns

Properties in spa towns in England and Wales cost an average of 16 per cent or £38,000 more than homes across the wider county in which they are in, according to Lloyds TSB.

The group said the higher prices people were prepared to pay to live in a spa town was likely to reflect the large number of period homes in these towns, as well as the high quality of life people associate with them.

Properties in Boston Spa command the biggest premium, costing nearly twice as much (98 per cent) as homes across the rest of West Yorkshire, while house prices in Ilkley, also in West Yorkshire, are 97 per cent higher than across the rest of the county.

People can expect to pay 42 per cent more for a house in Bath than in the surrounding area, while homes in Matlock are 37 per cent more expensive than the average for Derbyshire, and those in Tunbridge Wells cost 36 per cent more than across the rest of Kent.

There are only three spa towns in which prices are lower than across the county they are in, with property prices in Boston 15 per cent below the average for Lincolnshire, while they are 7 per cent lower in Llandrindod Wells than across Powys, and house prices in Epsom are 5 per cent lower than the average for Surrey as a whole.

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.”

Spa towns’ associations with gentility go back to the days of Jane Austen.

The spa town of Bath played a large part in her short life. It was there that she received her only offer of marriage.

House prices have at least doubled in 15 spa towns during the past decade, with Builth Wells in Powys seeing the biggest jump at 153 per cent, followed by Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire at 143 per cent and Boston Spa at 141 per cent.

Epsom is the most expensive spa town in which to live, with prices averaging £357,837, while they are only slightly cheaper in Tunbridge Wells and Bath at £337,144 and £324,250 respectively.

Boston is the cheapest spa town in which to buy a home, with property values averaging £132,912, followed by Llandrindod Wells at £168,428.