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WELL-TO-DO parents have been buying homes near highly-rated London schools for decades.

It puts their little darlings within the catchment area of sought-after schools, allowing them to qualify for a place.

But now the number of people snapping up homes on the doorsteps of “outstanding” and “good” Ofsted-rated schools, has begun to push up house prices, or so a new study by Confused. com suggests.

Ofsted rates schools from 1. Outstanding 2. Good 3. Requires improve- ment to 4. Inadequate (in descending order).

Those who want to buy a place in the catchment area of an outstandingrated school in London, should expect to fork out an average £635,949.

While homes near inadequate-rated schools cost an average £461,273 to buy - that’s 27% cheaper than homes near an outstanding institution.

According to Confused.com experts, England faces a problem where the number of pupils outstrips the number of school places available.

This means the school catchment crisis is more serious than ever.

The study looked at the Ofsted ratings of 20,545 primary and secondary schools in England and the average house price within the catchment areas, to reveal the average price someone is expected to spend to live nearby.

It’s unsurprising that the top three London schools which are most expensive to buy homes nearby are in Kensington and Chelsea. The rest are in central London.

The 10 outstanding-rated London schools with the most expensive homes nearby: Average house price nearby: £1,795,725 Average house price nearby: £1,714,528 Average house price nearby: £1,714,528 Average house price nearby: £1,661,399 Average house price nearby: £1,661,399 Average house price nearby: £1,661,399 Average house price nearby: £1,661,399 Average house price nearby: £1,647,994 Average house price nearby: £1,647, 994 Average house price nearby: £1,647, 994