Benham and Reeves analysed house prices across London postcodes home to schools with Good or Outstanding Ofsted ratings, how they have performed over the last year and how this performance compares to the wider borough in which they are located. 

The London market has held fairly firm over the last year despite the wider economic landscape, although house prices have cooled by a marginal -0.6% over the last year. 

However, the research by Benham and Reeves shows that, on average, house prices in postcodes home to schools with an Outstanding Ofsted rating have increased by 1.9% annually. 

In contrast, the average annual rate of house price growth seen across the wider boroughs in which these schools are located sits at just 0.2%, meaning that postcodes with schools rated as Outstanding have seen house prices increase by a far higher margin over the last year alone. 

At the same time, postcodes home to a school with an Ofsted rating of Good have seen house prices climb by 2.3% over the last year, while the rate of growth across their respective wider boroughs has averaged an increase of just 0.6%. 

But it’s not just house price performance where top Ofsted rated schools are helping to stimulate the market. 

House prices within postcodes home to schools with an Outstanding command a 1.9% premium versus the average across their wider boroughs. While this may not particularly seem significant, this house price premium has grown considerably since last year when it sat at just 0.1%. 

Last year, house prices in postcodes home to a school rated by Ofsted as Good actually came in 1% below the average across their wider boroughs. However, today they now command a marginal premium of 0.7%, a swing of almost 2% in a single year. 

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“Such is the demand for schooling within London that homes within any catchment area can be sought after, even if those schools don’t hold a gold star from Ofsted. 

However, most parents will understandably be keen to secure a spot within a school with a favourable rating, even more so following this week’s news that so many schools have been closed due to structural issues. 

This can drive an unusually high level of competition within confined pockets of the London market. As a result, house price growth within these postcodes is going against the grain of the wider London market which has remained largely static over the last year and these homes are also commanding a premium when compared to the average price across their wider boroughs.”

You can access the full data tables and sources for this release online here.

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House Buyer Bureau has analysed the current average UK house price and compared it to that at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to see how much current values would have to fall before ‘returning to normal’ prior to the pandemic market price boom. The analysis then goes on to compare this to market performance during the global financial crisis of 2008.

There is talk of a cooling housing market and that prices are on the decline. But the data shows that, even after months of economic and market turmoil, today’s average house price of £287,546 would have to fall by a colossal -19.3% to return to its pre-pandemic level o£ 231,940 in January 2020 

So, while some may express concern that the market is struggling, it’s clear to see that any slight price dips are negligible following the immense growth seen over the pandemic and no doubt aided by the subsequent Stamp Duty holiday. 

This required price drop of -19.3% is so large that it even dwarfs the massive price drops recorded during the recession brought on by the 2008/09 global financial crisis.

When that recession began in April 2008 (Q2 2008), the average UK house price was £183,148. By the end of the technical recession (Q2 2009), just 14 months later, prices had fallen by -12.9% to an average of £159,561.

So, for current prices to return to pre-pandemic norms, the decline would have to be significantly more severe than that caused by the global financial crisis which was, it is widely agreed, a more severe period of economic turmoil than that we are currently enduring. 

Managing Director of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, commented: 

“Many so-called property experts have been quick to prophesize the demise of the UK property market with fear mongering mutterings of a market crash. This simply hasn’t been the case and house prices would need to fall by nearly 20% just to return to their pre-pandemic norm, let alone for the market to crash. 

The housing market is standing strong and this is great news, however, our previous research found that the average buyer now needs almost nine times their annual income to cover the average cost of a home.

When you combine this huge affordability barrier with a cautious buyer mindset following a string of interest rate hikes, the challenge today is the ability to find a genuine buyer in a proceedable position, not the price they are willing to pay when you do.

With property values showing little sign of reducing, this issue is one that is likely to persist and so sellers need to approach with pragmatism and avoid overvaluing, while buyers must be prepared to negotiate tenaciously to ensure they don’t overstretch financially.”

Data tables

Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here

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Scotland’s second renewables jamboree will kick off in less than two weeks, delivering 11 free shows on low-carbon living as part of the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

And organisers the Construction Industry Collective Voice (CICV) say its event on the potential of microwave heating is an example of a technology that could offer a real alternative to traditional fossil fuels – but only if we’re brave enough to embrace it.

Co-organiser Gordon Nelson, Scotland Director of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “Our upcoming show on microwave heating is the perfect demonstration of the bravery and innovative thinking that is needed by both the construction industry and homeowners if we are to build a sustainable future for Scotland.

“We know that we’ll need a combination of methods to meet both the retrofit challenge and the new-build heat standard and this new technology is one of the solutions that we should be having the courage to explore now.”

The microwave heating show will be delivered on the first day of the festival by Professor Sean Smith, Director of The Centre for Future Infrastructure and Professor of Future Construction within the School of Engineering and at the University of Edinburgh.

Starting at 2pm on Monday 14 August, the event will focus on the origin of the new technology, how it works and how it could offer an alternative to traditional heating methods in our homes.

Mr Nelson went on: “It’s great for us to have this innovative solution explained this year as part of the Green Home Festival, and this technology could provide the rapid acceleration of low carbon heating for Scotland’s 1.2 million flats, given the short installation time and the fact that it links to existing radiators.

“We just need to be brave, adjust our mindsets and think outside the box when it comes to potential greener solutions like this.”

He went on: “As well as microwaves, the Green Home Festival will also look at other innovations in home heating, such as hybrid systems, which combine new technology with traditional methods to reduce both costs and carbon footprint for the homeowner.

“And on a larger scale, we’ll be looking at the benefits of community heating networks and exploring how distributing heat to multiple buildings from a central source could do away with the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building.

“All this activity is designed to start a conversation about renewable living and to encourage homeowners to start thinking differently about how they will power, heat and run their homes in the years to come.

“It will also help demonstrate how the CICV has its finger on the pulse of future solutions to meet the climate challenge and is determined to help steer the wider construction industry down a more sustainable path.”

Live Green Home Festival sessions will once again take place at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) at 10 Charlotte Square in central Edinburgh, with contributions from the likes of Home Energy Scotland, Scottish Water, SNIPEF and SELECT.

Other topics covered at the Green Home Festival will include creating sustainable kitchens, green garden rooms and offices, making retrofit projects eco-friendly, converting churches and how the home of the future will be powered.

Built Environment – Smarter Transformation will also host a webinar that will advise what consumers can do to reduce both their energy consumption and energy bills.

The festival is the latest in a string of practical and constructive initiatives launched by the CICV since its creation at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Made up of 28 trade associations, professional services bodies and companies, it has maintained a steady supply of information and practical advice to the sector as well as carrying out surveys, producing animations and posters, hosting webinars and maintaining close dialogue with Scottish Government ministers.

• Full details, including how to book tickets for each event, are available on the Festival’s website at greenhomefestival.co.uk.

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The findings also show 85% of councils across England are facing an increase in people experiencing homelessness – the highest number in any year since the annual research began.

London is the epicentre of the national homelessness emergency, accounting for well over half of all homeless households living in temporary accommodation in England (emergency housing provided by local authorities for homeless households).

London Councils’ own recent research revealed that one in 50 Londoners is now homeless and living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough, including one in 23 children.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ Executive Member for Regeneration, Housing & Planning, said:

 “The homelessness situation is fast-becoming disastrous and requires urgent action from the government at a national level.

“In London we face increasingly unmanageable pressures. It is utterly unsustainable to have one in 50 Londoners living in temporary accommodation. There is at least one homeless child in every London classroom – an appalling statistic showing the massive social impact of the worsening housing crisis.

“Ministers must work with councils and other partners across the housing and homelessness sectors to reverse these trends. There are at least 143,000 potential new homes we could begin building immediately in London if the government addressed the barriers to delivery, including by providing additional infrastructure and affordable housing grant funding.

“We cannot afford delay – this is an emergency situation needing an emergency response.”

London Councils estimates that almost 170,000 Londoners are now homeless and in temporary accommodation.

London Councils’ research shows the number of households entitled to homelessness support from a London borough (i.e. owed a homelessness prevention or relief duty) increased 15.2% between April 2022 and April 2023.

There has also been a dramatic 781% increase in homeless families placed in bed and breakfast accommodation beyond the legal six-week limit. This equates to 1,287 London families stuck in unsuitable B&B accommodation in April 2023 compared to 146 the same month last year.

Rising homelessness numbers are putting immense strain on boroughs’ finances. London Councils estimate that boroughs are collectively spending at least £60 million each month on temporary accommodation costs.

London Councils is urging the government to:

Raise Local Housing Allowance (LHA). LHA, which eligible households receive as part of their housing benefit or Universal Credit if they have a private landlord, has been frozen since 2020 despite private rents increasing since then. Boroughs believe LHA should be increased to cover at least 30% of local market rents – a policy the government adopted successfully at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Support councils to buy accommodation sold by private landlords. 40% of all homes listed for sale in London in 2022 were previously let by a private landlord. The government should build on initiatives such as the Local Authority Housing Fund by providing increased capital investment for housing acquisitions, particularly to acquire homes being sold by private landlords as they exit the market.

Boost Homelessness Prevention Grant funding. Local authorities play a vital role in supporting struggling households to avoid homelessness. Councils require an immediate emergency funding increase to ensure local services have the resources needed in the face of rising levels of demand for support.

Increase Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments are used by councils to help residents in financial crisis meet their housing costs. They are an essential homelessness prevention tool, but government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2023-24 has been frozen at 2022-23 levels, despite significantly increasing homelessness pressures.Bring forward a cross-departmental strategy to reduce homelessness. Tackling homelessness must become a major priority at a national level with government departments working together – in addition to key partners such as local authorities – as effectively as possible.

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A loan scheme which enables homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties is needed if the UK is to reduce energy consumption, cut carbon emissions and bring down consumer bills, says the leading professional body for the construction sector. 

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), in its response to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s recent ‘Heating our Homes’ inquiry has reiterated previous calls for Government to support the Construction Leadership Council’s National Retrofit Strategy. It includes a “help to fix” scheme which provides homeowners with an interest-free government loan to cover the full costs of home improvements.  

CIOB says previous government schemes such as the Green Homes Grant and Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) have failed for several reasons, most notably that homeowners were required to part fund energy efficiency work in a lump sum. For many this simply wasn’t an option at the time the schemes were on offer, and certainly isn’t amid a cost-of-living crisis says CIOB’s policy team.  

In February 2023, the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee noted if the current take-up rate of the BUS continues, only half of the allocated budget will be used. 

CIOB adds that a scheme where the full cost of home improvements such as double glazing, insulation, new heating systems and even bigger jobs like loft conversions or extensions, are covered by a loan, is the only way many homeowners could afford to have work carried out, and government should develop such a scheme if they seriously want to meet its energy and carbon reduction targets. 

David Parry, CIOB’s parliamentary and public affairs officer, said: “We and the wider industry have been calling for a national strategy for retrofitting for years now but we’re not being listened to. Poorly planned, ad-hoc schemes such as the Green Homes Grant have been failures because homeowners are still expected to find a percentage of the cost of having work carried out on their home and people just don’t have that disposable income. 

“A long-term initiative where homeowners can borrow the full cost of improvement works would in our view incentivise a big upturn in demand which in turn will help improve the energy efficiency and quality of the nation’s housing stock, reduce energy use and associated costs for consumers, while also cutting carbon emissions and accelerating the move to net zero. Factored into a wider strategy, developed with industry experts, which considers the training of a skilled workforce, a “Help to Fix” scheme could go a long way to achieving the goals the Government has set itself but is currently nowhere near meeting.” 

CIOB adds that funding isn’t the only reason previous schemes have failed, and issues with promoting them, consumer confidence and ensuring skilled tradespeople were available to meet the demand for their services, also contributed to their downfall. 

The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee also noted that public awareness of low-carbon heating systems is limited, and the promotion of the BUS was inadequate. This was echoed in CIOB consumer data, which indicated that, of 2,000 UK adults polled in February 2023, 53 per cent had not heard of the BUS, Home Upgrade Grant, ECO Plus/ECO+ Scheme or the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.  

Eurostat data and research from the Building Research Establishment indicates that energy consumption in buildings accounts for 45 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions*. Notably the UK has one of the oldest housing stocks in Europe, with the smallest proportion of homes built after 1970 and the second highest proportion built before 1919.** 

Parry added: “Our response to the “Heating our Homes” inquiry has given us the opportunity to once again reiterate our belief, and that of the wider built environment sector, that a national strategy is required if progress is to be made on retrofitting UK homes. Any such strategy must be created with multiple future governments in mind and have a broad consensus across the political spectrum if its to deliver results at the pace and scale required so we hope our calls will no longer continue to fall on deaf ears.” 

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Woods Hardwick analysed the size of the green belt across each area of England, what this equates to as a percentage of the total land area and how many homes it could facilitate if fully utilised to address the housing crisis. 

The green belt is a spatial planning tool first introduced in the 1950s as a national policy with aims to to prevent urban sprawl and keep land permanently open back when the UK population was 51m. 

A common green belt misconception is that it is there to protect the countryside for its beauty or for ecological reasons such as areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

The research by Woods Hardwick shows that England’s green belt is estimated to cover 1.637m hectares (16.371bn sq m), equating to 12.5% of England’s total land area of 13.046m hectares (130.462bn sq m).

Just 8.7% of England’s land area is of developed use, with just 10.5% being defined as ‘built-up’ – demonstrating how sizable the green belt is. 

England’s green belt could facilitate the construction of 73.743m new homes with the average new-build plot requiring being 222 sq m – according to ONS in 2021 there were around 24.8m homes in England & Wales.

This means it would require building on just 1.4% of the green belt for the government to meet their target of one million new homes by the next election. 

Regionally, London is home to the smallest green belt at just 34,772 hectares, meaning it could also facilitate the smallest number of new homes at 1.566m. However, London’s green belt equates to 22.1% of the region’s total land area, the largest of all regions of England, demonstrating why building on the green belt is an important consideration in areas where space is already a hot commodity. 

Green belt land also covers over 20% of the West Midlands region and could facilitate the construction of 11.925m new homes, the second highest total of potential new homes of all regions. 

It’s the South East where green belt building could make the biggest impact on the housing crisis. The green belt stretches across 16% of the region and could deliver 13.751 new homes if fully developed. 

In each case only a modest release of green belt land would make a substantial contribution towards meeting housing needs. 

At local authority level, green belt land accounts for an enormous 93.9% of the total land area of Tandridge, enough to deliver over a million new homes. It also accounts for more than 90% of the total land areas of Epping Forest and Sevenoaks and over 80% of the total land area of West Lancashire, Bromsgrove, Brentwood, Guildford, York, Windsor and Maidenhead and St Albans. 

Building on the green belt could make the biggest impact in Northumberland, where it could facilitate 3.166m new homes despite accounting for just 14% of the area total land area. 

You can find green belt housebuilding data for your individual local authority here. 

Planning Director at Woods Hardwick, Russell Gray, commented: 

“Sensibly planning the release of green belt land will directly address the housing crisis and local property shortages. That doesn’t mean concreting over the entire countryside as many incorrectly assume and there are swathes of green belt that have been incorrectly classified and contribute little to the intended purposes of green belt in national policy. 

Green belt development has been continually rejected by politicians for landscape or habitat reasons when that should not be the case.

Our research highlights just how much land is classified as green belt across England and how difficult this makes the delivery of much needed housing, particularly in areas where space is already finite. 

England’s entire green belt could deliver almost seventy four million new homes – three times as many homes we already have – and it would take reclassifying just 1.4% of green belt land for the government to meet its target of one million homes by the next general election. 

Instead, they’ve set their sights on brownfield redevelopment, a task that is far more complicated, costly and, quite frankly, doomed to fail due to there simply not being enough of such land. It also typically fails to provide the level of affordable housing we desperately need as a country. 

As a result, we expect that come the next general election, we will be hearing yet more excuses why we haven’t met or built the government’s one million new homes target to address the crippling housing crisis felt across the nation.”

You can view the full data tables online here.

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The survey of UK property professionals, commissioned by Moverly, asked if the upfront provision of pertinent information related to a transaction was a positive when it came to the process of buying and selling property – with a huge 90% of those surveyed stating it was.

Such information can be provided via Home Information Packs, which collect the essential details and documentation that homebuyers need access to when considering the purchase of property – such information includes EPC certificates, title documents, and Local Authority searches among many other things.

HIPs are not a new idea. In fact, they were introduced to parliament by the last Labour government but then the David Cameron-led coalition government abandoned the idea in 2010. 

When asked why they thought the original introduction of HIPs failed, those surveyed by Moverly stated the reliability of the information provided was the biggest reason, while the upfront cost incurred by sellers also acted as a deterrent. 

However, last year, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, committed to reintroducing the previously abandoned Home Information Pack as part of the government’s Levelling Up ambitions. 

But what’s changed? 

Well today, technology allows us to securely store our personal information while also providing us with the ability to easily share it with stakeholders across various processes, whether it be online shopping, electronic banking and much more. The landscape hasn’t just evolved, it’s a completely new world when compared to the old analogue processes of previous years and this makes it far easier for the consumer.

This transformation has already benefited the property sector in many areas and Moverly found that 87% of property professionals think that HIPs could be better placed to succeed in today’s market, due to the further digital disruption of the industry and our ability to share data electronically. 

When asked what they believe the biggest advantage would be if HIPs were to return, a greater level of transparency for buyers ranked top, followed by a reduced conveyancing timeline, as well as a lower chance of transactions falling through – however, just 37% think their reintroduction should be mandatory. 

56% think the cost of HIPs should be incurred by the seller, although some believe it should be the responsibility of the buyer (22%), the agent (14%) and the conveyancer (7%).

The majority (59%) also believe that there should be multiple HIPs providers to help drive the standard of service through competition, although they should be regulated by one single authority.  

Moverly co-founder Ed Molyneux, commented: 

“We believe that HIPS are absolutely essential if the housing market is to solve the perpetual issues of inefficiency and snail-paced processes. Of course you’d expect us to say that, but it turns out the vast majority of property professionals also recognise the benefits the provision of upfront information can bring. 

While HIPs may have originally been designed to help buyers, everyone within the transaction timeline benefits from greater transparency, greater stability and a more certain outcome. 

They can also greatly reduce the risk of sales falling through due to broken chains, saving both buyer and seller money in the process, as well as reducing the chances of gazumping, issues that have been rife in the UK market in recent years. 

Those who oppose HIPs do so based on the fact that a cost traditionally incurred by the buyer is transferred to the seller. While this may be the case, the cost of HIPs is dramatically lower today and sellers are also far better placed to absorb a marginal additional cost that could save them thousands of pounds in costs incurred should their sale collapse.

What’s more, the advancement of technology and how we share information today, means that the ability to provide reliable information has been hugely improved.”

Data tables

Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here.

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Following a competitive tender process, Urban’s Maintenance & Energy team was appointed to cover around 3,500 of the Council’s social housing properties across the city. The five-year contract covers home improvements and repairs,  extensive damp works  as well as an energy retrofitting programme to make the homes greener and more energy efficient for the residents.

Dunnington-based, Urban Group Commercial Director Andrew Green commented: “We are delighted to be working with City of York Council on this important programme of works that will upgrade  thousands of homes, making them warmer and more energy efficient, which is obviously very good news for the tenants.

“We were able to demonstrate a proven track record in the social housing sector across the North and, with our headquarters also based in York, our team has an excellent understanding and knowledge of the city which means we can hit the ground running.”

He added: “We’ll be looking to recruit on the back of this contract win to grow the team, as well as take on some keen apprentices who can learn and progress with Urban over the coming years. This is a great opportunity for anyone who has enthusiasm and wants to learn on the job, whilst gaining industry-recognised qualifications.”

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Searchland maintains a comprehensive record of available land sites across England which shows that currently, there are an estimated 26,670 brownfield plots located across the nation. According to the CPRE, the average brownfield site can hold an estimated 53.6 housing units, meaning that the nation’s current brownfield land is enough to facilitate the construction of 1.43m new homes. 

Brownfield building isn’t without its complications and can often require a substantial budget to remediate a site before work can even begin, if for example, the land is contaminated. 

But rather than build on the green belt, the Government recently announced it would be bowing to pressure from NIMBYs and turning its focus to the redevelopment of commercial brownfield sites into residential homes.

When it comes to the greatest degree of all available brownfield land, London ranks top. The capital’s 4,392 brownfield sites account for 16.5% of the national total which, if completely redeveloped, could deliver over 235,000 new housing units to the London market. 

The West Midlands sits in second with 2,522 brownfield sites accounting for 9.5% of the national total with the potential to deliver more than 135,000 new homes. 

With 1,971 sites in Greater Manchester, brownfield building could also bring over 100,000 new homes to market (105,646).

Other counties boasting some of the largest levels of brownfield include South Yorkshire (4%), West Yorkshire (3.8%), Surrey (3.6%), Essex (3.4%), Dorset (2.9%) and Hampshire (2.8%). 

The City of London (0.01%), Rutland (0.02%) and the Isle of Wight (0.3%) are home to the smallest proportion of brownfield sites in England. 

Co-founder and CEO of Searchland, Mitchell Fasanya, commented:

“Despite the Government’s best efforts to encourage brownfield building in recent years, it remains a complicated and expensive process and one that is unlikely to address the housing crisis in a meaningful manner. 

However, rather than tackle the controversial subject of green belt development head on, the Government has decided to take the easy way out and pursue a half baked plan on converting previously developed land that is no longer being used, such as abandoned or underutilised industrial areas and obsolete commercial units. 

Unfortunately, as our figures show, brownfield development could benefit many major cities, but its availability is also far too lopsided towards certain counties to help address the issue of housing supply on a national scale.”

Data tables

Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here.

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