It's all about the quality!

At Larkfleet we’ve always believed good quality new housing developments can only help local house prices – and new research proves we’re right!

One of the most common concerns of homeowners across the UK is that a new build residential development nearby will reduce property values in the local area.

According to recent media reports based on data from Zoopla and Hometrack , house prices in areas which have a new build concentration of 25 per cent or greater have grown in value on average by 29.7 per cent over the past five years, six per cent above the national average property price growth rate which stands at 23.6 per cent.

Zoopla analysed data from Hometrack to reveal which areas of Britain are home to the highest concentration of new build properties as a share of all property sales. The fast growing, ex new town of Milton Keynes is closely followed by Crewe (29.6 per cent), which joins Middlesbrough in Teeside as one of only two areas in Northern England to have made it into the top 10, and the Greater London town of Ilford (28.8 per cent) in third place.

Regionally, the research also reveals that the highest concentration of new build homes are found in Southern England (five of the top 10) and The Midlands (three of the top 10), with only Crewe (29.6 per cent) and Middlesbrough (20.3 per cent) representing Northern England at the top of the table.

Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla said: “New housing sales account for one in ten property sales each year but this varies across the country. These new findings give us a useful overview of where new builds are most common around the country, outside of London. Clearly, areas such as Milton Keynes and Crewe are benefiting from new investment by developers.

“While there is a correlation between a large proportion of new builds and higher property price growth, new homes are typically developed in areas of high demand, which has already contributed to a rise in property values.”

This bears out what housebuilders have long held to be true. Property prices are not adversely affected by the proximity of new development. It also builds on research that was undertaken in 2015 by the London School of Economics which found that new developments have little affect on local housing markets.