The London commuter town is home to 207 streets where the average property value is at least £1m, but it’s still an affordable alternative to the capital.
New research released by property portal Zoopla has revealed Britain’s most expensive streets, with Kensington Palace Gardens taking the top spot for the 11th year running with its £32.9m average price tag – a £2.8m fall from what it was this time last year.
Other streets to make the “Rich List” within the capital include Courtenay Avenue in Highgate where the average property costs £19.5m, Grosvenor Crescent in Belgravia with homes at £19.1m, and Ilchester Place near Holland Park at £15.1m.
But outside the capital, Reading in Berkshire boasts the largest number of high value streets with 207 roads where the average property is at least seven figures.
Despite this, according to Zoopla, the average price paid for property in Reading over the past 12 months was £415,439, which is well below the capital’s figure of £626,102.
Renovation in Reading
As more people look to extend their commute into London from a more affordable location, Reading is proving a popular yet still upmarket choice for many – particularly with the new Crossrail line set to open there that will provide even better access to central London.
Situated only half an hour from London by train, Reading boasts excellent transport links, while benefiting from a world-class university, a large concentration of skilled young professionals – particularly those working in the tech sector which Reading is famous for – and a strong economy and economic outlook.
There are currently a number of renovation projects taking place in Reading, one of which is the refurbishment of one of the town’s most iconic department stores, Jackson’s, right in the centre of the town. The development is currently open to investment through BuyAssociation, and you can read additional coverage of the project here.
Sam Hadfield at BuyAssociation commented: “The Residences offers a fantastic opportunity to invest in a unique piece of local history.
“Victorian properties are still one of the most popular styles of building in Britain so it’s great that so many original features will be retained in this sympathetic renovation.”
Seven-figure streets lost 10% of their value
Zoopla’s figures also revealed that the number of addresses valued at one million pounds and above in the UK has dropped by by 10% in the last 12 months.
Currently 15,484 streets command an average property price over £1m, says Zoopla; only 1,805 less than last year’s figure of 17,289. Yorkshire and the Humber is the only region to record an increase in the area’s number of one million plus streets. Last year it had 161 but since then four more streets have hit the seven figure mark, bringing the total for 2019 to 165 streets.
Most expensive streets outside London
Only Altrincham in Manchester makes the elite top twenty in the north. The remaining 19 out of 20 most expensive streets outside of London are all in the south of England.
In Surrey, Montrose Gardens has an average price hike from £5.9m in 2018 to £6.5m this year, with Temple Gardens in Hertfordshire (£4.365m) and Kent’s Phillipines Shaw (£3.884m) in hot pursuit. Montrose Gardens in Surrey is the most expensive street outside London, after seeing its average house price climb from £5.9m in 2018 to £6.5m now. It’s followed by Temple Gardens in Hertfordshire (£4,365,016) and Phillippines Shaw in Kent (£3,884,107).
Zoopla said: “The bulk of the losses have been in London and the South East, which are home to the majority of million-pound streets but are also areas where house prices have been generally falling recently. 820 streets in the South East and 514 in London have lost their £1m+ status in the last 12 months.”
