As London’s children go back to school after the long summer break, Winkworth’s podcast takes a look at the long-standing relationship between schools and property in the capital.
London’s top schools attract pupils from all over the world, with families keen to move to prime areas in order to secure an excellent education for their children, and therefore property prices respond to the resulting demand. In this episode of the podcast, Winkworth’s Chief Executive Dominic Agace discusses the situation with Melanie Sanderson, managing editor of The Good Schools Guide and Donovan Kelly of Winkworth’s Barnes office.
Agace says: “Which comes first – the prime area or the school? Just look around London where the famous schools are and the neighbourhoods are equally famous – St Paul’s in Barnes, Highgate School, the American School in St John’s Wood. These are internationally renowned schools so it’s not only domestic demand that’s supporting property within these areas, it’s also high net worth families relocating to London from overseas. There are streets where people rent to try to wait for a house to come up for sale. Availability is really the issue. There aren’t the houses coming up for sale in these areas.” This means that regardless of mortgage rates or property values, properties in education hotspots remain desirable and will perform well all the time.
Melanie Sanderson told the podcast: “In the eyes of parents, there is a very clear hierarchy. At the top, there is St Paul’s, Westminster and, very close behind them, is King’s College School in Wimbledon. For girls, St Paul’s again, Godolphin & Latymer and a number of others across London. The schools are ferociously difficult to get into and even if your child gets a place, they really need to be able to keep up. Parents should err on the side of great caution before upping sticks and moving house in the hope their child will win a place because the chances are tiny. With international families, we have those who are relocating for work and others who are education tourists who are moving here so their children can attend London’s best independent schools. The cachet of the major public schools is the most important factor of all.
She goes on to point out that London is blessed with some very good state schools, many of which require families to live very close by. Places at schools such as Greycoats, Camden Girls and the London Oratory are highly coveted – “it’s almost a military campaign to get into these schools” – and parents are prepared to go to great lengths to land a spot for their child. The best state primaries can create property hotspots in their catchment areas, and Sanderson recalls: “When we lived in Clapham, parents were out with pedometers checking if they lived within 250 metres of the school.”
Donovan Kelly of Winkworth in Barnes says that his area is hugely popular with parents wanting to send their children to Barnes Primary and then on to St Paul’s or The Harrodian, or to schools in neighbouring areas including Ibstock Place or Godolphin and Latymer. A four bedroom family home in SW13 costs between £2.5 and £3.5m, on the rare occasions that they come onto the market.
Listen to the podcast here.