Living in an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ primary school catchment area is highly sought after, but there are still specific catchment areas with lower house prices than the average property price for London.
Recent research from London estate agents Portico has revealed the average house price in the capital near an ‘outstanding’ state primary school is £693,849, which is £75,000 more than the average property price in London as a whole.
Out of the capital’s 32 boroughs, there are 342 ‘outstanding’ state primary schools. Portico collected data from properties sold in the last year on Rightmove for the average house prices in this study.
The most affordable boroughs and catchment areas
Tied for the least number of ‘outstanding’ schools with three, the borough of Barking and Dagenham features the lowest average property price on the list at £307,463. This is less than half the average house price across London, which is £618,587.
The two catchment areas with the most affordable average property prices are both located in Hounslow. Edward Pauling Primary School has the lowest price of £233,615, and Beavers Community Primary School is close behind with £247,571.
Price gaps within boroughs
Some boroughs even have substantial gaps in house prices, varying for specific catchment areas. For example, the catchment area for Primrose Hill School in Camden has a whopping average house price of £2,573,738. However, the area within the catchment area of Kingsgate Primary School, which is also located in Camden, has an average property price of 77% less at £578,896.
The data shows that even though living near an ‘outstanding’ primary school in London often comes at a premium, there are more affordable areas near top-rated schools throughout the capital.
Fiona Veitch, the marketing director at Portico, commented: “Each year, parents across the nation fight to get their children into the right school, and we see many families moving purely to be in the catchment area of a specific school.
“Despite there being such a strong correlation between house prices and top-rated schools, we hope our research will help the parents who are looking to move to an ‘affordable’ area near a top-rated school see what options are available to them.”
