The FINANCIAL — Barclays Mortgages and The Centre for Economic & Business Research (Cebr) has revealed a new property prices rivalry within soap land.
Eastenders has been crowned triumphant in the battle of the bricks, as the cost of a single brick, when taken from the average price and size of a house in the fictional London borough of Walford (East London) is revealed as £149.
Mapping the brick prices of the small screen
Using the latest available* (2015) average house price data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS**), Yorkshire based Emmerdale comes in second place, where the cost of a brick stands at £49 – 67 per cent less than table topping Albert Square. Properties in Chester-based series Hollyoaks cost £36 per brick, whilst Eastenders arch nemesis, Coronation Street is beaten into fourth place with a value of £27. Completing the list is Welsh based series Pobol y Cwm, which has an average brick price of just £21, 86 per cent less than Eastenders
This variation in property prices is even clearer when comparing against the average ‘brick cost’ across the UK of £47.44 – which has steadily risen by a third (33 per cent) over the last decade. The research reveals that Eastenders bricks cost more than three times this figure, whereas Pobol y Cwm is less than half the national average. This would allow Emmerdale favourite Zak Dingle to buy two average South Wales properties if he were to move to the Welsh drama.
The varying prices in each region reflect the wider trend of UK house prices rising, brick by brick. ONS research has found that average house prices in the UK have increased 8.2 per cent in the last year alone [1], continuing the strong growth enjoyed since the end of 2013.
It seems ten years in soap land doesn’t necessarily work wonders for the cost of bricks, as although those located on Albert Square have over doubled in cost in the last decade (128 per cent), Glasgow and Cardiff residents including those of River City and Pobol y Cwm haven’t enjoyed the same surge in value, losing value in this time.
The research highlights how much property prices have soared in London when compared to the rest of the country. If fictional Eastenders character, Dot Cotton were to sell her £774,800 Albert Square home, she would be able to purchase two average properties in rival soap destination, Coronation Street.
Looking ahead to 2020, the cost of a brick is expected to continue in an upward trend, with the largest increase expected in the London borough of Walford, where the cost of a single brick in relation to house prices will rise to £191 (28 per cent). This is closely followed by Coronation Street, (27 per cent) with both Emmerdale (24 per cent) and Hollyoaks (24 per cent) also expected to enjoy healthy increases.
Craig Calder, Director of Barclays Mortgages said: “With so many of us watching long-running TV drama series’, it is interesting to find out how the value those typical properties we invite into our own living rooms each week have changed over time, brick by brick.
“It is remarkable to see that the continued increase in value of London properties means a typical resident would be able to purchase multiple properties in less expensive regions across the country.”
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