How does the rail network affect property prices?

It probably goes without saying that there are several primary factors that affect house prices - and transport is one. If you’re a fan of re-runs of property shows on TV or catch-up, you’ll know the location times three adage. Proximity to good schools has always been a factor too in any town or city, though academies have made “catchment areas” something of a relic.

If your home is near a Waitrose, you’ve hit the proverbial jackpot too with house price acceleration as that premium supermarket will add 2 or 3 percentage points to annual house price growth.

London has always had its own property micro-climate, however, and it’s rare, we reckon, to stumble across a Waitrose in Hoxton, Shoreditch or Hackney - or perhaps not?

The key in London is proximity to rail and tube networks and we’ve seen the same happen in the city we’re based in: Manchester with the Metro system. House or apartment prices in areas dotted around the Northern Quarter, like Ancoats, are reaching London levels and there’s even an area, we kid you not, called New Islington. This is also impacting property price growth to each compass point of Manchester, with places like Failsworth seeing rapid property price growth.

Not always been that way though

In the times of the Industrial Revolution, with the advent of steam trains, property near a railway line or station would never have commanded a premium, but with the advent of electric trains, pollution fears have been quelled and desirability has increased. The road network is often impassable in rush hours too, meaning public transport is vital.

Some of this is, we know, anecdotal.

But there is some hard statistical evidence that a railway can make property prices rise, as much almost as a Waitrose.

Let’s explain.

We will look at London again, where stats abound.

Property within 500 metres of a tube station carry a £54,000 price premium, or a 10.5% hike over others in nearby postcodes. Places like Woolwich, that experienced an extension to the Docklands Light Railway, saw a 20% annual rise.

Other cities show similar too.

Glasgow homes, for example, with the biggest rail network outside London, command a 6% premium if near a rail stop; whilst Manchester recorded a 4% premium for that easy proximity.

And? You may ask?

We are a nation of shopkeepers, according to Napoleon, but in the 21st century, we’re more a nation of property voyeurs

If you didn’t know already, this past year has seen record property transactions with people needing more space for remote working and the Stamp Duty and Land Tax holiday.

We are proud of the visits we get to our Raildiary website and Sitediary app, but our figures are positively dwarfed by visits to Rightmove, the property portal, which recorded 152 million hits in one month alone in January 2019! We’re sure these figures will be eclipsed by 2021.

Our point at Raildiary is that having a rail network near your home is as much of a benefit as having an Outstanding primary school or a Waitrose.

With HS2 developing, along with a slew of regional rail projects, perhaps the British will embrace rail construction as, longer term, it adds value to their home(s).

What do you think?

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