Forget broadband speeds or the best schools, it's the first letter of your street name that could make your home worth more, according to a new study.
Street names that begin with the letter U tend to be home to properties that are worth more than those that start with any other letter in the alphabet, according to a new study.
Property site Zoopla has investigated 750,000 streets in the UK to create an A-Z of average property prices based on street names
The average value of a home with the U-factor stands at £251,307, which is £25,503 more than the UK average of £225,804.
Upper Phillimore Gardens in Kensington, London, was found to be the most expensive street with an average property price of just over £5.6 million.
Z-list
At the other end of the scale street names beginning with the letter Z were bottom for house prices.
Homes on these streets were worth an average of £180,046, which is 20% less than the UK average of £225,804.
Zeus Lane in Waterlooville, Hampshire, for example has an average property value of £141,278, which is over a third lower than the national average.
A-Z of property values
Here is how the rest of the alphabet stacked up. The table is arranged based on highest average property value rather than alphabetically. The letter X doesn't feature as there were not enough streets with properties to form an average.
|
Starting letter* |
No. of UK streets |
Average property value |
|
U |
3,565 |
£251,307 |
|
T |
44,927 |
£248,008 |
|
O |
16,358 |
£244,450 |
|
H |
53,223 |
£234,045 |
|
C |
77,769 |
£233,873 |
|
P |
36,065 |
£233,550 |
|
W |
50,979 |
£231,145 |
|
F |
25,835 |
£228,489 |
|
L |
39,563 |
£228,400 |
|
S |
71,304 |
£228,237 |
|
B |
71,884 |
£227,105 |
|
Q |
3,826 |
£226,824 |
|
N |
18,475 |
£225,911 |
|
R |
31,154 |
£223,241 |
|
M |
51,216 |
£221,498 |
|
K |
16,728 |
£221,106 |
|
G |
33,335 |
£219,248 |
|
I |
4,316 |
£219,125 |
|
E |
19,216 |
£218,849 |
|
D |
25,395 |
£218,643 |
|
Y |
2,751 |
£218,367 |
|
V |
7,752 |
£217,240 |
|
A |
31,333 |
£211,744 |
|
J |
5,565 |
£190,802 |
|
Z |
180 |
£180,046 |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Streets that had names beginning with T (£248,008) and O (£244,450) have the second and third highest priced homes.
While J (£190,802) and A (£211,744) roads have the second and third lowest priced properties.
And the average price of a property on a street that had a name begining with a vowel (£229,095) was worth £6,306 more than a street name starting with a consonant (£222,789).
A bit of fun
Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: “It seems that there may be more to a street name than meets the eye. With a £70,000 difference between the average property price on streets starting with the letters U and Z... it is advisable to select your street wisely.”
But if you ask me the Zoopla research should be taken with a pinch – or perhaps a bucket – of salt. Personally I'm not convinced that letters of the alphabet can tell you that much about property prices!
What do you think? Let us know in the Comment box below.