Back to school week always heralds a flurry of articles about house price premiums around top-performing schools. With good reason. Securing a place at the very best state schools can come with a very high price tag. 

Highly regarded schools have long been a key driver for housing demand. Our latest analysis highlights just how much parents are willing to pay to be within close proximity of state primary schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

The average price of a home near a primary school rated ‘outstanding’ in England is 16 per cent or £37,000 higher than for one rated ‘good’. That premium rises to 30 per cent, or £61,000 when compared to a home near a school rated ‘inadequate’ or that ‘requires improvement’.

The gap peaks in London where competition for schools is most intense.  Last year, one in seven (14.1 per cent) primary school applicants in the capital didn’t get into their first choice of school and 4.3 per cent weren’t offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools.  This is much higher than the respective 10.0 per cent and 2.8 per cent averages across all of England.

In London, buyers pay an average of £670,000 to live within 500m of the best primary schools, some £85,000 more than the average close to a school rated good, and £189,000 for a school requiring improvement – a 39 per cent premium.

At the other end of the scale, the differentials in the North East are much, much lower. House prices within 500m of an outstanding school cost an average of £156,000 compared to £132,000 close to a poor performing school – a premium of just 9.0 per cent.

Average second hand sale prices of property near primary schools in England

_{Source: Savills Research, Land Registry}

This means that many are now looking beyond the capital to be near good schooling. For both the South East and the East of England, buyers pay £360,000 to be within 2 km of an outstanding primary school, 27 per cent and 32 per cent higher respectively than they would for property near to inadequate schools or those that require improvement.

For many, pinning their hopes on a single school is considered too risky and a selection of good schools will determine where they decide to buy. East Dorset is not only the local authority with the highest proportion of outstanding primary schools but it also has the advantage of containing no schools that are considered inadequate or require improvement which would be a real appeal for parents.

Elsewhere across the country, locations such as Epsom & Ewell in the South East, Kensington & Chelsea in London and Oadby & Wigston in the East Midlands all have a very high proportion of outstanding primary schools.

Further information

Contact Savills Research