Young professional home buyers are paying a premium of £71,000 on average to live in the 20 most popular postal districts in the UK according to new research.
The average price of a home in one of the 20 most popular areas with young professionals is £735,874 compared to £664,716 in the surrounding area, some 13% higher, or a difference of £71,158.
The research from Lloyds Bank also shows that for a third year in row the BN3 area of Hove on the south coast of England is the most sought after location for young professionals buying a home in England and Wales followed by Wandsworth and Wimbledon in London.
With neighbouring Brighton coming in as the seventh top locality, the East Sussex coast continues to a popular place to live and work for the aspirational younger age group and Hove is also popular with families because of its closeness to the sea, good sized homes, and its gentler feel than Brighton.
Immediately to the East, Brighton, on the other hand, is a year round city on the sea, with two large universities, a thriving cultural and arts scene and a buzzing nightlife served by a number of restaurants, pubs and bars.
Of the top 20 areas with the most sales to young professionals, some 16 are located in Greater London, with Didsbury and Reading being the only other areas outside London.
In Wandsworth, the second most popular area with young professionals, the average property value is £763,418 some £15,546 or 2% higher than in the rest of the local area. In Wimbledon the premium is £109,397 or 18% compared to the wider area.
However, the highest premium paid by young professionals is in Chiswick, where the average house price of £857,792 is £370,988 or 76% higher than in the borough of Hounslow. Kilburn at £341,208 and Hampstead at £307,775 have the next highest premiums.
Looking at regions outside London, in Harborne young professionals would pay a £102,909 or a 59% premium compared with Birmingham at £277,261 with a premium of £174,353. In Didsbury young professionals pay an average premium of £93,062 or 56% compared with Manchester as a whole at £260,057 against £166,995. In the Cotham area of Bristol these buyers would be paying an average premium of £108,591 or 48% compared with Bristol as a whole.
‘Aspiring young professionals are typically well qualified, in well paid jobs and tend to live in areas not far from the city centre where they work. These are also places where they can enjoy easy access to green space and a range of places to socialise. These buyers also don’t appear to be put off by the significant premium in price to live in areas popular with young professionals,’ said Lloyds Bank mortgage products director Andrew Mason.
Hampstead is the most expensive area for young professionals buying in an urban location with an average price of £1,352,836, followed by Paddington at £1,231,224, Hammersmith at £1,139,668 and Fulham at £1,090,094.
With 52% of London’s working age population in the 25 to 44 age bracket some 16 of the top 20 areas that attract the most young professionals are in the capital. Nine of these areas are in south west London, including Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Fulham, Battersea, Streatham and Putney. Other areas in the capital making the top 20 include Tower Hamlets, Hampstead, Chiswick, Ealing, Hammersmith and Kilburn.
Didsbury in Manchester is the 20th most popular place with young professionals drawn by the high end food shops, independent retailers, restaurants, trendy bars and a regular tram service into the centre of the city.
Other regional hotspots for young professionals include Jesmond in Newcastle, Broomhill and Fulwood in Sheffield, West Bridgford in Nottingham and central Cardiff.
