Price sensitive!

No one disputes the ‘Waitrose effect’ but what else will add value to your home?

Most people who have ever bought or sold property know about the ‘Waitrose effect’. Which is to say that if there is a store nearby, it is one of the first things estate agents mention.

so it was no surprise when a recent Lloyds Bank report put a figure on the Waitrose effect — 12 per cent, or nearly £40,000, on the average property. that’s what you can add to the value if there is a certain supermarket beginning with ‘W’ in the area.

of course, there are plenty of factors which add value to a property. some are plain common sense, others are downright bonkers. Here’s how they stack up.

SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

THIS one is what Basil Fawlty would call the bleeding obvious. Live near a highperforming state school and you are ahead of the game when it comes to selling your house.

A map produced earlier this year by estate agent savills showed that properties close to good schools could fetch 25 per cent more than those less well situated. so, even if you don’t have children, watch the exam results of your nearest school like a hawk.

Fewer A*s at GCsE, or a slacking off in the geography department, and it could cut your pad’s value.

SPRUCE UP THE GARDEN

it’s not rocket science, but houses with wellmaintained gardens sell for more than ones where the garden looks like a jungle in Borneo and one where rats raise families in the shrubbery.

A recent survey by Homesearch put a figure of 20 per cent on the value which a tidy garden could add to a property. so stop making excuses and mow your lawn now.

MARKET TOWN MAGIC

NEVER mind Waitrose. if you are lucky enough to live in a market town, you are laughing all the way to the bank.

According to research last year by Lloyds, properties in market towns were typically worth £25,000 more, than similar properties in other towns in the area.

MICHELIN STAR TURNS

ARE the British pigs? is the Pope an Argentine? We have become so obsessed with food, courtesy of tv cookery shows, that a top restaurant can work wonders for the reputation of an area. research by the website prime

location.com in 2012 showed that, in some areas with Michelinstarred restaurants, property prices were worth 50 per cent more than the regional average.

HILLS MEAN STEEP PRICES

You might not like slogging up the hill from the station at the end of the day, but if you live on a hill, your property will probably be worth more — a lot more, if you heed research carried out by Zoopla.

the average price of properties with a ‘ hill’ in the address was more than double that of properties on bogstandard ‘streets’.

FOLLOW THE CURVE

BUYING a house on a crescent is also a sound investment. research published last year by Wetherell estate agents found that, in Central London, properties on crescents typically commanded a premium of 40 per cent.

Houses in squares or in a mews also scored well, while those with ‘road’, ‘grove’ or ‘court’ in the address were seen as less desirable.

MONEY GROWS ON TREES

THIS research comes from America, but one would confidently expect similar findings in this country, given our affection for leafy suburbs.

A study in Portland, oregon, in 2013 found that houses in streets where there were trees between the pavement and the road fetched an average of $7,000 (£4,700) more than houses on treeless streets.

SOUGHT-AFTER SEA VIEWS

As You would expect, sea views command a hefty premium — up to 66 per cent in the southWest, according to research by Knight Frank. Estuary views (82 per cent) and harbour views (81 per cent) were even more sought after.

THE NAME GAME

A FUNLOVING friend of mine named her house in tottenham ‘sea view’. it was a smart move. research by the website globrix.

com in 2011 found that one in 14 people pay a premium for a property with a name rather than a number. A house name can add between 0.55 per cent in value, according to estimates.

ODDS-ON FAVOURITE

AND, oddest of all, 1 sandy Lane trumps 22 sandy Lane.

A study by Zoopla found that average oddnumbered houses fetched £538 more than their evennumbered equivalents.