Homebuyers might expect to pay more for properties near the best independent schools in the country or inside the commuter belt. Yet it’s homes near restaurants with Michelin stars that come with a tasty 50 per cent premium, according to a new study by the Halifax.
The average price of a house in the same postcode as a restaurant with a Michelin star is £527,690, compared with an average of £351,834 for the wider local area. In London this figure is even higher. For example, properties near the one-Michelin-starred La Trompette in Chiswick, west London, are 109 per cent higher than the average, or £531,746 in cash terms. Not an insignificant price tag to be in walking distance of a menu offering chargrilled cuttlefish and banana soufflé.
Overall, houses near the one-Michelin-starred Northcote in Blackburn, Lancashire, command the highest percentage premium compared with the local area — 128 per cent, or a cash equivalent of £155,059, with an average house price of £276,000.
In Birmingham, houses near Simpsons and Peels at Hampton Manor are subject to a premium of 113 per cent, or £206,913, with an average property price of £388,665.
Properties near the one-Michelin-starred Alimentum, in Cambridge, also command a 113 per cent premium, or £431,746, with an average property price of £812,595.
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Charles Elsmore-Wickens, the head of Savills in Windsor, Berkshire, says: “As our relationship with food has changed over the past ten years, the emphasis buyers put on proximity to great pubs and restaurants continues to grow. A Michelin-starred restaurant puts a culinary spotlight on a village or town, which in turn raises its profile to buyers.
“Ask someone to name a village in Berkshire and many will quickly think of Bray because it has Michelin-starred restaurants including The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn,” he says. “An idyll for the London commuter, it’s not only the schools or train connections that define this beautiful waterside village, but the exceptional food on offer.”
The good news for homebuyers wanting to live closer to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck is that the average house price in Bray is 16 per cent cheaper than the local area, a saving of £93,149, according to the Halifax research. This should help diners with the restaurant bill, which costs £255 a head for the set menu.
Halifax identifies that there are 14 Michelin-starred restaurants in places where properties sell at a discount to the neighbouring areas. Homes close to Thomas Carr @ the Olive Room in Ilfracombe, north Devon, have the largest discount to the surrounding local authority area — 22 per cent, or £52,947 — followed by properties near four restaurants in Bray.
At the other end of the scale, the most expensive properties close to Michelin-starred restaurants are predictably in London and the southeast. Those with the highest price tags are found close to the two-Michelin-starred restaurant The Ledbury in Kensington, where the average price of a home is £3 million, followed by Kitchen W8 in Kensington at £2.98 million, The Five Fields in Chelsea at £2.69 million, and the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea at £2.29 million.
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London
The average house price of all properties close to Michelin-starred restaurants has risen by 64 per cent in the past decade, from £322,040 to £527,690. Yet prices of homes closest to Michelin-starred restaurants in London have more than doubled in ten years. The average house price of homes near all 15 restaurant locations surveyed in the capital had doubled, at least, in the past decade, with seven commanding prices of more than £1 million.
Owners of properties closest to the Kitchen W8 in Kensington have had the largest average price growth in the same period, increasing from £864,183 in 2006 to £2.98 million in 2016 — a 245 per cent increase, or £17,639 a month.
Homes by the two-Michelin-starred restaurant The Ledbury, also in Kensington, have had the next largest surge in average house prices at 221 per cent, followed by those near the Harwood Arms in Fulham at 196 per cent. House prices fell in only three areas with Michelin-starred restaurants: in Nottingham, near the two-Michelin-starred Sat Bains, they dropped by 11 per cent, and those near Raby Hunt in Darlington fell by 4 per cent.
Edward Rook, the regional chairman at Knight Frank, says that Michelin-starred restaurants are not the only driver of house prices. He says: “Michelin-starred restaurants and high-end properties are mutually beneficial. By their nature, restaurants with Michelin stars are expensive and will choose to establish themselves in an affluent area. As a restaurant becomes rewarded for its quality, its reputation resonates across the whole area and will be a reason for increased demand from buyers, resulting in higher values. A high-profile restaurant is one of the most significant indicators of a thriving location and strong property market.”
However, if there are no Michelin starred restaurants where you live, fear not. Research by Lloyds Bank has shown that the presence of a Waitrose supermarket can boost the value of nearby houses by an average of £22,000.