Millions would pay an extra £50,000 to buy a home in a good school's catchment area.
The impact the school system on the mortgage market has been underestimated, new research from Fidelity suggested today.
According to the financial firm, almost four million British parents are willing to pay £50,000 more for their home - if it falls within the catchment area of a highly-regarded state school. The Fidelity poll, which also showed that a total of 4.4 million would pay extra due to the local schools, comes despite a falling property market in the UK.
Indeed, latest figures from Halifax and Nationwide show that house prices have dropped more than ten percent over the past year. Earlier this week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders also released new research, showing an annual drop in mortgage loans of 51 percent.
Nevertheless, parents still appear to be willing to splash the cash due to the proximity of a good state school. Their reasoning might be partially explained by recent rises in the costs of private schooling - which now sets parents back an average of £11,000 per child per year.
Rob Fisher, Fidelity's head of UK retail marketing, added: "The prospect of putting a child through private school is financially very daunting for many parents, especially at time when the cost of living is rising so dramatically. While house prices in many parts of the UK are falling, a number of parents still find themselves in a situation where they have to spend more on their homes to guarantee getting their child into a good state school."
