Gower

Wales’ priciest school catchment areas revealed – with HALF of top ten in Swansea

Half of the top 10 priciest school catchment areas are in Swansea according to new research – with those moving closest to schools paying a property price premium.

Published

4 weeks ago

29th August 2023

Editor

As we all know, living in the right postcode can be key to securing a place for your children at your dream school.

In an effort to ensure fair access, schools prioritise a number of factors for admissions but researchers have found that the British school system often relies more heavily on ‘distance from the school’, favouring those who live nearer.

But did you know that distance from a school can affect the local housing market?

Online Money Advisor have investigated this phenomenon and set out to see where there are price premiums for buying a property within 0.5 miles of a school, and also to identify the schools in Wales with the most expensive catchment areas.

St Mary’s R.C. Primary School in Cardiff is the Welsh school with the most expensive catchment area, with the average property within 0.5 miles of the school costing a staggering £595,313.

Mayals Primary School in Swansea came second however, with average property prices within half a mile of the school being £575,082.

Three other South Gower Schools are included in the top 10 most expensive catchment areas with homes within 0.5 miles of Newton Primary School (third) averaging £569,158, Oystermouth Primary School (fourth) at £527,330 and Bishopston Primary School (sixth) catchment area fetching an average of £464,083.

Rounding out the top 10 most expensive catchment areas was Penllergaer Primary School, with homes within half a mile of the school averaging £317,485.

The most expensive school catchment areas in Wales

It’s no secret that the average house prices vary greatly across the country. A variety of factors can influence the price of a property, but by exclusively looking at price premiums within school catchment areas we have identified the schools with the most expensive catchment areas in Wales.

Rank	School	City	Avg house price within 0.5mi
1	St Mary’s R.C. Primary School	Cardiff	£595,313
2	Mayals Primary School	Swansea	£575,082
3	Newton Primary School	Swansea	£569,158
4	Oystermouth Primary School	Swansea	£527,330
5	Evenlode C.P. School	Penarth	£476,273
6	Bishopston Primary School	Swansea	£464,083
7	Birchgrove Primary School	Cardiff	£377,000
8	Corpus Christi Catholic High School	Cardiff	£338,450
9	Pontprennau Primary School	Cardiff	£319,333
10	Penllergaer Primary School	Swansea	£317,485

The Welsh towns and cities with the highest premiums for living close to a school

We also wanted to find the towns and cities of Wales where proximity to schools triggered the biggest increase in house prices. To do this, we calculated the average price difference between homes within 0.5 miles of a school and homes more than 0.5 miles away. Here are our results.

Rank	Town/City	Price Difference
1	Colwyn Bay	+24.28%
2	Pontypool	+12.45%
3	Pontypridd	+10.60%
4	Llanelli	+7.86%
5	Cardiff	+7.56%
6	Merthyr Tydfil	+6.70%
7	Penarth	+5.86%
8	Swansea	+4.90%
9	Aberdare	+3.43%
10	Rhyl	+1.20%

House prices are compared to the average price of properties within 0.5 miles with an above 1% price difference

Wales is the UK region most affected by school catchment area premiums in Britain

The study was conducted across England, Wales and Scotland to see where in the country prices fluctuated the most as a result of proximity to a school. In Wales, a 6.09% price increase for properties near schools was measured overall. This contrasts to London where demand to live near a school is smaller, with average house prices only being 0.45% higher when located within 0.5 miles of schools.