Advertisement

Coronavirus: 163 test sites sit in UK areas where properties are above average price

Research shows that in areas with COVID-19 testing sites, the average house price is around £4,392 more than the UK average. Photo: Getty Images
Research shows that in areas with COVID-19 testing sites, the average house price is around £4,392 more than the UK average. Photo: Getty Images

Across the 163 postcodes where COVID-19 testing sites are currently located in the UK, house prices are well above the country’s average.

Estate agent Barrows and Forrester analysed house price data across postcodes that are currently home to a testing station to see how they compared against property values in the wider market.

The research shows that in areas with such sites, the average house price is £243,588 ($322,832). This is around £4,392, or 2%, higher than the UK average.

When comparing the average house price in these postcodes to the wider local authorities they are located within, the difference is even more prominent.

READ MORE: Coronavirus insurance test case heads to UK Supreme Court

The average house price across these wider areas is £228,104, which makes prices in postcodes of testing sites 7% higher.

In some areas, this disparity is much more significant. The biggest property price gap is in Fife where the KY16 postcode is home to a COVID-19 testing site and an average house price of £328,880, 137% higher than the average across Fife as a whole.

Chart: Barrows and Forrester
Chart: Barrows and Forrester

Doncaster’s DN9 postcode is home to a COVID-19 testing site and an average house price around 123% higher than Doncaster as a whole. As is Birmingham’s B72 postcode, where the average house price comes in 106% more than the wider average across Birmingham.

Managing director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, said: “I’m not sure if the close proximity of a COVID-19 testing site would spur me to pay more for a property personally, given the potential higher footfall of those that could have the virus.

“However, the research shows that if you did want to buy near a testing site, it’s going to cost you a fair bit more than a property elsewhere in a given area.”

WATCH: UK property: What is shared ownership?