By Warren Lewis 15th November 2016

New research commisioned by online estate agent, Hatched, ranked the top 20 stadiums for the UK’s most attended sports – golf, horseracing, football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league – for the average house prices of their postcodes.

And according to the results, golf is the best sport for house prices, with homes near Britain’s courses costing an average of £419,446.

That figure makes properties neighbouring the fairway more expensive than homes next to any other type of sporting venue in the country, and nearly double the latest ONS national average of £219,000.

Following golf, horseracing is next past the post thanks to asking prices of properties neighbouring racecourses of £362,000.

Due to the northern location of most of its top teams, rugby league emerged as the worst sport for house prices and was a distant last with average prices of just £163,508 – making it the only sport to have prices lower than the national average.

In terms of individual venues, the home of cricket, Lord’s, which is in north west London, topped Hatched’s 120-stadium league table with the most expensive neighbouring homes at an average of £1,467,562.

Those living near the Stamford Bridge home of Premier League football club, Chelsea, have homes averaging £1,232,001 and are the next best off. The only other venue in the table to boast a seven-figure average is Sandown Park racecourse in Surrey.

At the bottom end of the table the sports of football and rugby league dominate. Being able to claim several London-based venues meant that football escaped the overall wooden spoon, however the country’s most attended sport does account for four of the bottom five venues on the table.

The research also found that stadium capacity appears to have a positive effect on prices. The 10 largest grounds have an average house price of £406,571, while the smallest 10 venues’ is just £246,570. In addition to this, homes next to premier division stadia in their respective sport are 84% more expensive than those next to third division venues.

With southern venues dominating the top end of the rankings, you have to wait until position 32 for the first northern appearance, in the form of Alwoodley Golf Course in Leeds

Adam Day, Managing Director at Hatched, commented on the findings: “Taking the neighbours into consideration is something all buyers tend to do but how many think about the local sports team?

Our research shows that it does appear to influence property prices, and in some surprising ways too. For example, you would presume a lot of people would be put off at the prospect of upwards of 40,000 people descending on their neighbourhood every other Saturday but that doesn’t appear to be the case as larger stadiums equal higher prices.

Similarly there is clear correlation between the supposed traditionally middle class sports such as cricket and golf having higher house prices, while those perceived to be more working class found further down the table. The north / south divide runs right through our findings and were it not for the likes of Stamford Bridge and Tottenham’s new Champions League ground, Wembley, then football would definitely be the worst sport for your house price.”

For further information around the research please read HERE