Festival-mad homebuyers face a 89% property premium

Festival-mad homebuyers face a 89% property price premium

Research from estate and lettings agent, Barrows and Forrester, reveals that buying a home close to one of Britain’s many great music festivals will cost you a significant price premium of up to 89%.

To understand what kind of price premium buying close to a festival site commands, Barrows and Forrester has looked at current average house prices in postcode areas that host the biggest music festivals in Britain and compared them to prices within each festival’s wider Local Authority (LA) area.

The research shows that homes located within a stones throw of 20 of Britain’s most popular festivals cost, on average, 15.2% more than the wider area.

The biggest festival premium is found in the WA4 outcode area of Daresbury, Warrington, home to the long-running Creamfields festival.

The average house price in WA4 is £366,303. This is a whopping premium of 89% compared to the wider Halton LA district in which the average price is £193,834.

Leeds Festival is held in the LS23 outcode where an average house price of £422,844 is 79.5% higher than the wider Leeds LA district average of £235,566.

Cumbria’s Kendal Calling commands a price premium of 49.2% and Machester’s Parklife commands a premium of 30.4%.

This might seem like bad news for festival lovers, but for those who are truly mad for it, there is hope because three major festivals are actually located in spots where prices are cheaper than their respective wider LA districts.

A property close to the All Points East festival in London’s E9 is -15.7% cheaper on average compared to the wider average found in Hackney.

Glasgow’s TRNSMT (-7.3%) and Cornwall’s Boardmasters (-0.6%) are also both home to more affordable festival property prices when compared to the wider areas in which they are located.

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“Festival season is something that millions of Brits look forward to each summer and this year is no exception.

The funny thing about British festivals is that there’s no rule of thumb as to where they’re located. Some are plonked into rural farmer’s fields, such as Glastnbury and Latitude, while some are squeezed into dense urban areas like All Points East and Parklife.

Despite there being no pattern to their locations, there is certainly a pattern when it comes to price premiums and, generally speaking, you’ll have to pay above the odds for a festival adjacent property. A worthwhile investment if it allows you to dodge the dreaded campsite, not to mention the festival toilets.”