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What's in a name? - Tim Betts, Taylor Wimpey

What’s in a name?

Penny Lane or Threadneedle Street? Tim Betts considers where the money is when it comes to names

When choosing a new home we naturally look for a number of things to ensure we get the best value for money: price, location and build-quality are typically top of our lists.

But now, it seems, we need to factor in another aspect to our search – the importance of street names.

According to new research by property website Zoopla.co.uk, the highest value properties in the UK are located on a 'Hill', where average prices are around £341,000.

Other names that appear to have added value include 'Lane', where prices are typically £328,000, 'Mews' at nearly £295,000, 'Park' at around £283,000 and 'Green' where an average home will cost almost £270,000.

Meanwhile, ‘Street’, ‘Terrace’, and ‘Crescent’ score below average.

It’s never going to be an exact science, but because a sense of exclusivity is so important to homebuyers, new-build developers pay a great deal of attention to the subject when putting forward road names to the local authorities.

For example, at Taylor Wimpey’s Sandringham development in Ruislip, where peaceful cul-de-sacs and tree-lined boulevards are a feature of the neighbourhood design, ‘Close’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Avenue’ have been selected – which rank among the higher value suffixes – while the preceding names were put forward by the Local History Society to reflect the location’s fascinating links to code-breaking during and after the Second World War.

‘Wren Close’ honours members of the Women’s Royal Navy Service stationed at the former Ministry of Defence base which once stood on the site of Sandringham, and ‘Coleridge Drive’ is named after the codeword given to GCHQ’s 1946 operation to crack Soviet codes. ‘Flowers Avenue’, meanwhile, honours Tommy Flowers, who occasionally worked at the base and led the team that designed the Colossus – the forerunner of the modern computer.

While long-term value, prestige and history can be secured by a good street name, another important consideration for housebuilders is the names they give to their developments.

Although these marketing names won’t necessarily be remembered in years to come, the right ones should stick in house-hunter’s minds during their property search, while adding an immediate sense of status and community to a neighbourhood in its early stages.

The Romans at Augusta Park, for example, is a development on a grand scale in Andover, Hampshire, and its name celebrates the site’s much earlier settlers, who are also chronicled as having enjoyed their modern home comforts. Meanwhile, Pinnacles is a pocket development within the grounds of a former convent in Woking, Surrey, and its name was chosen to reflect the high standard of living offered by exclusive homes in such a highly desirable location.

Many Taylor Wimpey developments have a theme which runs throughout the marketing names of the new homes for sale, often reflecting some aspect of the site’s history or geography – and often bringing together some well-known places in one location!

Tim Betts

Tim Betts is Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey West London, which has new homes developments in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Middlesex and Surrey.

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