On the day reserved for ghosts and ghouls it has emerged that living next door to a cemetery in the UK could knock almost 25% off the value of your property, according to figures compiled by a real estate agent.
HouseSimple.com looked at property prices on streets in 13 UK towns and cities which are next to cemeteries, and compared those prices to the average price for the postcode area.
The figures revealed that house prices on these streets are on average 23% lower than the postcode average.
There are around 14,000 cemeteries in the UK which means hundreds of thousands of homeowners live next to or near a cemetery.
For example, the average property price overlooking St Patrick’s Cemetery in Leytonstone is £258,400, compared to the postcode average of £511,311.
Property prices next to Linthorpe Cemetery in Middlesbrough are 43.8% below the postcode average, the agent said.
But living next to a cemetery doesn’t appear to chill prices everywhere.
Property prices next to Harehills Cemetery in Leeds are actually 7.4% higher than the postcode average, and prices next to Hollybrook Cemetery in Southampton are more than £17,000 higher on average than the average for the postcode.
"For many of us, living next to a cemetery would cause us sleepless nights, but for buyers who aren’t easily spooked, they could pick up a bargain," said Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com.
"And if you can get past the fact there are gravestones a few yards from your front door, what you’re actually overlooking is a serene and quiet space, that is unlikely to ever be developed."
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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The detail reported above seems to suggest that what is vital is the local circumstances and the ‘design’ of the interface between homes, the wider place and the cemetery.
With the pressures on public open space and the need to build more homes it is vital that we get use from the UK’s cemeteries for more than their obvious function. I have seen very good examples of how this can be done.
I would choose a house next to a cemetery over a house next to a family of teenagers. At least you can guarantee quiet neighbours that won’t damage your property.
The very last paragraph of your report is exactly what I think of living next to a cemetery…..it won’t be developed> One of the very few places that stupid planning authorities can’t blight peoples lives with.