Old rectories offer best value for those seeking classic English home

The latest research by Jackson-Stops has revealed that, at £245 per square foot, properties once home to clergymen offer the best value for money out of all quintessential English village home types.

The study, which analysed the price premium of six classic English village property types, found that old rectories are the least expensive typical English village home on a price per square foot basis, standing at an average value of £1,075,889 (4.6 times greater than the UK average house price).

Sitting just £1 behind are manor houses, which are valued at £246 per square foot on average, despite commanding the highest average sale price (£1,431,944).

Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, commented: “Despite there being uncertainty in some pockets of the UK property market as a result of the current political climate, the English love affair with a quintessential country home remains.”

“While the country market may not be as buoyant as it was a few years ago, beautiful homes in bucolic countryside, which are accurately priced, will always achieve strong interest and will continue to command significant price premiums.”

At the other end of the spectrum, barn conversions were the most expensive per square foot (£316), regardless of them usually boasting large, open-plan living spaces. These ranked as the second least expensive village home at £939,070 but were also the second smallest, offering on average 2,963 square feet of space.

Unsurprisingly, manor houses continued to command the highest price premium of all English village homes analysed – more than six times greater than the UK average house price, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Despite being on average almost 1,500 square feet smaller than a manor house, farmhouses were the second most expensive property type – almost five times as much as the average home.

The ‘chocolate box’ cottage is the least expensive property type at £606,886. However, with an average square foot of 1,985, the cottage is the second most expensive property on a price per square foot basis.

“Despite ranking as the first and third most expensive property type respectively, it was interesting to see manor houses and old rectories offering the best value for money per square foot,” Leeming added.

“The vicar was often considered the most important individual in the village, only second to the lord or lady of the manor, and so the homes do tend to offer ample proportions. However, the data shows that, at around £245.50 per square metre, buying a manor house or an old rectory is much more realistic than it may have once been.”

According to Leeming, it’s no surprise that the majority of the English village property types tend to sell during summer, as potential buyers are able to view their ‘striking and historic features and beautiful landscaped gardens’ during the daylight hours.

“However, I was surprised to see a spike in popularity for mill conversions during the winter months. This tends to be a quieter period for the UK property market, however branches across the country from Shaftesbury to York have agreed sales on converted mills throughout December to February.”

Below is the ranking of English village homes by price premium achieved against the price of the UK average house price (highest to lowest):