Poor Broadband Could Knock 24% Off House Prices

Slow internet connections could knock as much as 24 per cent off the value of the average home, according to a report by online estate agent Housesimple. The report compared 20 residential streets with slow connectivity to a number of residential streets in neighbouring areas.

Out of the 20 streets which had the poorest broadband speed, only 27 homes were sold in the past year in total.

Housesimple defined homes with poor connectivity as properties with broadband speeds of less than 1 Megabyte per second (Mbps), compared to the UK average broadband speed of 46.2Mbps.

The report by Housesimple follows research by Rightmove which found that a majority of buyers prioritised having access to gardens and other forms of green space, when searching for new homes.

Connectivity counts

The average home with poor broadband was worth £182,983, compared to an average of £240,031 for homes in the same area, a value gap of as much as 24 per cent, the report estimated.

The widest valuation gap between properties, as measured by broadband quality, was seen in Coppice Farm Park, Tring. There was a 62 per cent gap in valuations here, with poor-broadband homes being worth as little as £211,333. This was compared to other homes within the same postcode, which were worth as much as £556,974.

Rothbury Gardens in Plymouth bucked the trend, with homes with poor broadband in the city actually worth 7.5 per cent more than those in the same postcode with faster broadband. Slow broadband homes were worth £241,516 on average , compared to other homes in the area with better broadband, which were worth an average of £224,665.

WiFi considered a deal-breaker

Weak broadband was observed to have had an impact on sales in the 20 streets surveyed. 17 of them had lower average valuations compared to other homes in the local area with better broadband connections.

Sam Mitchell, CEO of Housesimple, explained: “Broadband is now considered the fourth utility after water, gas and electricity, such is our reliance on a fast internet connection at home for everyday tasks.”

Mr Mitchell added: “Buyers may be reluctant to purchase on a street where broadband speeds are so slow that they can’t do simple tasks such as open multiple web pages concurrently, speak to friends on social media channels and download movies, let alone work from home.”