Houses near JDW pubs £70k cheaper than average price

15-Apr-2019 - Last updated on 15-Apr-2019 at 10:52 GMT

Bricks and mortar: Mojo Mortgages analysed house prices of properties within walking distance of JD Wetherspoon pubs

Houses within walking distance of JD Wetherspoon (JDW) pubs are selling for more than £70,000 less than the local average house price, according to new research.

The research from Mojo Mortgages compared the prices of houses sold in the past 12 months that were within walking distance of 184 JDW pubs to the average local price in the area.

The study was conducted to find out if any other businesses had an impact on house prices similarly to the ‘Waitrose effect’, which discovered houses near a Waitrose cost more than £36,000 than the average house in the area (research from Lloyds Bank).

It found houses within walking distance of JDW sites were 27% (more than £70,000) cheaper than the local average.

Average house price

In Halifax, West Yorkshire; Rhyl in Denbighshire; Kidderminster in Worcestershire; Walsall in the West Midlands; and in Preston, Lancashire; houses sold near a JDW pub were more than two thirds (66%) cheaper than the local average.

In contrast, however, houses sold near a JDW pub in Cricklewood, north-west London were 88% more expensive than the local average.

While in Newcastle and Cambridge, houses sold near a JDW site were 66% and 50% more expensive than the local average respectively.

Mojo Mortgages director of digital Andrew Gorry said: “With everyone aware of the ‘Waitrose effect’, we wondered whether any other ‘effects’ existed in the housing world in Britain.

“Although JDW is certainly a part of Britain’s thriving pub culture, we were curious to see whether there was a pattern between house prices and distance from one of their pubs.”

Alternative perspective

He added: “With most JDW pubs in inner city/town areas, it is unsurprising to see that in the majority of places, houses sold near a JDW site are cheaper than the local average price. More than anything else, this provides an interesting alternative perspective on house valuations.”

However, JDW hit back and stated it changed unused buildings into pubs and called on the researchers to find out prices of houses next to derelict venues.

JDW spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “JDW runs excellent pubs and has an outstanding reputation for converting derelict buildings into its pubs.

“Maybe the company behind the research could do a further survey to see how much house prices are worth, next to derelict buildings before they are completely restored by JDW.”