Has your property got the U-Factor?

Forget streets with the X-factor, living on a street with a name beginning with the letter ‘U’  could mean your property is worth a lot more, according to new research from property website Zoopla.co.uk.

Average property prices on streets that start with a ‘U’ currently stand at £251,307 – the highest of any letter in the alphabet and £25,503 more than the current average UK property value of £225,804. Zoopla.co.uk analysed average house prices of the more than three quarters of a million streets in the UK. The most expensive street beginning with ‘U’ is Upper Phillimore Gardens where the average home is worth £5,640,496.

At the other end of the scale, streets beginning with the letter ‘Z’ have the lowest property values, with the average property worth just £180,046 – 20% less than the UK average. One particular example is Zeus Lane in Waterlooville, Hampshire. Despite being named after a Greek god, property values on the street are far from Olympian. The average property value on the street is just £141,278, 37% lower than the national average of £225,804.

Streets beginning with the letters T (£248,008) and O (£244,450) came in second and third respectively in terms of the highest average property values, while those starting with the letters J (£190,802) and A (£211,744) record the second and third lowest property prices.

And vowels beat consonants hands down when it comes to house prices. The average property on a street beginning with a vowel is worth £6,306 (3%) more than a street beginning with a consonant. Street names beginning with a consonant have an average property value of £222,789, compared to £229,095 for those with a vowel.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk commented: “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, and a £6,000 difference on average on streets beginning with vowels and consonants, it is advisable to select your street wisely.”