Victorian? Georgian, Elizabethan? Newbuilds? 

Have you ever wondered what effect the age of a property has on its value? What is the
difference, say, between a 4-bedroom Victorian house and a comparable Georgian one? Come
to that, what are the most and least valuable periods for property? And what about new
builds? Are they more valuable?

A few years ago, Halifax carried out a survey to answer just these types of questions, comparing the
prices paid for different period properties of similar sizes and locations. Clearly, it is not possible to be
100% accurate with comparisons of these kinds, as many of the older properties are unique, however,
it does give you a rough idea of how it all works:

Medieval (1000-1500) +20%
Tudor (1500-1558) +31%
Elizabethan (1558-1603) +32%
Jacobean/Carolean1/Cromwellian (1603-1660) +34%
Restoration/William & Mary/Queen Anne (1660-1714) +24%
Georgian/Regency/William (1714-1837) +18%
Victorian (1838-1901) +8%
Edwardian (1901-1919) +2%
End WWI to end WWII (1919-1944) +4%
Post War (1945-1959) +0%
Sixties (1960-1969) -2%
Seventies (1970-1979) -3%
Eighties (1980-1989) +3%
Nineties (1990-1999) +8%
Present (2000 +) +12%
New Builds – Much like a new car, they often have a one-off premium when first occupied, which can
run up to 25%.

From these statistics, it is clear that, despite the draughts, the high maintenance costs and the
planning restrictions, we are still in love with period property. And, the older the better, although
unsurprisingly, it is starting to lose its shine when it comes to medieval-style accommodation. In
contrast, newer properties carry a premium for the first few years until they start to look dated, at
which point their values dip slightly for between 30-40 years before they come back into fashion.

What is a little surprising is that there is not more of a premium for Georgian and Victorian properties,
although this may be explained by their relative abundance. There are plenty to choose from and that
puts a cap on their premiums. A Tudor or a Jacobean house, on the other hand, is more likely to be a
one-off.

The biggest surprise in the survey is that there is a premium to be paid on thin-walled and dated-
looking Eighties properties (+3%). I would have expected their prices to be more closely related to
seventies stock (-3%). Mind you, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so my surprise may just be
down to my personal preferences.

It will also be interesting to see, with rising energy costs, whether newer, better-insulated homes will
generate increasing premiums when compared to older stock. There’s no doubt that many people
who are buying properties as a buy-to-let investment and with new energy
efficiency requirements coming in for the sector in 2025, it’s likely to be an increasingly important consideration.