House prices in university towns trading at a premium
Nine university towns in the UK have an average house price premium in excess of £20,000 when compared to their county, according to the Halifax University Town House Price Review. These include Winchester (£114,489 or 50%), Bath (£98,562 or 43%), Cambridge (£90,699 or 44%), Warwick (£75,454 or 46%), Oxford (£39,797 or 14%), Newcastle (£25,005 or 16%) and Stirling (£20,296 or 13%).In total, 17 university towns have an average house price premium in excess of £10,000 when compared to their county.
Most expensive University towns
The ten most expensive university towns are in the South East. The most expensive is Guildford (£363,503), followed by Winchester (£343,332), Bath (£326,403), Oxford (£323,946) and Cambridge (£295,581). These top five most expensive towns also feature within the top seven university towns in the UK which trade at a premium to their county.
Outside Southern England the most expensive university towns are Bangor with an average house price of £245,855, Warwick (£240,332) and Cheltenham (£237,868).
Least expensive University towns
Hull, with a university student population of 22,275 from two universities (Hull and Lincoln), is the least expensive university town with an average house price of £124,108. It should be noted that average house price growth in Hull during five years was 79%.
There are eight other university towns with an average house price below £150,000. These include Stoke on Trent (£130,336), Bradford (£131,464) and Salford (£148,338).
Strongest house price growth during the last five years
Three university towns saw average house prices rise by over 100% during a five year period. The highest was recorded in Belfast where average house prices increased from £101,272 over the five year period to £207,669, a growth of 105%; followed by Dundee (101%) and Bangor (100%).
Twenty other university towns saw average house price growth of at least 50% in the same five year period; ranging from Stoke on Trent where average house prices increased from £85,722 to £130,336 (52%), Preston (53%) Bradford (94%) and Aberdeen (95%).
The 64 university towns in the survey recorded an average price growth of 42% over the five years, compared to the 44% rise for the UK as a whole.
House price growth during the last five years in the Top 20 Times University list
Eight towns within the Top 20 Times University list experienced more than 35% house price growth over the past five years. Eight of these universities recorded average price growth of over 35% during this period. The highest was in Durham, where the average house price increase was 59% followed by Newcastle (55%).
Ten of the Top 20 Times University list had an average house price over £200,000; the most expensive being Bath (£326,403) followed by Oxford (£323,946) and Cambridge (£295,581).
Size of student population and house price growth in last five years
Manchester, which has the largest student population of 73,160, recorded an average house price growth of 63% during the last five years. Liverpool, which has a student population of 53,705, saw average prices increase by 71% during the period.
However, university towns with a relatively smaller student population have also experienced large average house price increases. Glasgow with a student population of 45,125 recorded average price growth of 74% and Preston with 29,845 students saw a price rise of 53% during the five years.
Nitesh Patel, Economist at Halifax, commented: "Over a third of the university towns in this review experienced average house price growth of over (50%) in the last five years.
"While it can be a good investment, the decision to buy a property for a son or daughter at university ultimately depends on the parents' personal circumstances and property prices around the university in question."