Tories well out in front of Labour in the property stakes
- Average house prices in Conservative areas 53% higher than Labour -
14th Apr 2010
- Property values in Tory constituencies £89,500 higher than Labour on average
- Average house prices in Tory constituencies £257,500 vs. £168,000 for Labour
- Lib Dem seats show highest growth in property values over the past 5 years
- Gordon Brown's own constituency amongst the lowest property values in UK
Research released today from property website Zoopla.co.uk shows the Conservative party as the clear winner in the British property value stakes. Average house prices in Tory-controlled areas now stand at £257,518, followed by Lib Dem constituencies where the average home is worth £228,880, whilst Labour comes in a distant third at £168,112, with property values in areas under their control at almost 20% below the national average.
The Zoopla.co.uk research also reveals that Labour-controlled constituencies have experienced the lowest gains in property values since they came to power in 1997, with house price growth in areas under their control up 177% over the 13 year period compared to 179% in Tory areas and an impressive 190% in areas under Lib Dem control.
As for the party leaders own constituencies, the average property value in Gordon Brown's Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat is £120,910, well below both the average for his party and the national average. Average property prices in Witney, the Oxfordshire seat of David Cameron, stand at almost 2.5 times that figure at £289,686, well above the national average (£209,101) whilst in Nick Clegg's Sheffield Hallam constituency, the average home would set you back £219,136.
In terms of the total current value of residential property located in areas controlled by each party, the Tories and Labour come out almost exactly neck and neck at £1.9 trillion each, despite Labour's significant advantage of 11.7m homes in areas under their control compared to only 7.2m homes in Conservative areas. The total value of the 2.2m homes in areas under the control of the Liberal Democrats stands at £0.5 trillion.
Nicholas Leeming of Zoopla.co.uk, commented: "The election outcome may be unclear for now, but it is clear that the Tories rule in the property stakes with average property values in their constituencies significantly above those in Labour controlled areas. Interestingly, despite the fact that there are far fewer homes in areas under their control today, the Tories still have an equal share of the UK's property wealth, due largely to their strong presence in affluent rural areas and the south east of England in particular."
Average property values in each party's constituencies
| Party | Avg. Value (Apr '10) |
% Change since last election (May '05) |
Avg. value when Labour came to power (May '97) |
| Conservatives | £257,518 | 7.82% | £92,392 |
| Liberal Democrat | £228,880 | 10.24% | £78,813 |
| Labour | £168,112 | 7.99% | £60,567 |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Average property values in each leader's constituency
| Leader | Avg. Value (Apr '10) |
% Change since last election (May '05) |
Avg. value when Labour came to power (May '97) |
| Cameron | £289,686 | 12.30% | £98,756 |
| Clegg | £219,136 | 5.14% | £79,857 |
| Brown | £120,910 | 18.57% | £38,691 |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
- Ends -
For further information please contact Lawrence Hall on 020 7620 4618 / 07890 078 945 lawrence.hall@zoopla.co.uk.
Notes to editors
About Zoopla.co.uk
Zoopla.co.uk is the UK's most comprehensive property website, focused on empowering consumers with the resources they need to make better-informed property decisions. We help our users make sense of the residential property market by combining property listings with market value data, local information and community tools.
Zoopla.co.uk was founded on the principles of transparency and efficiency and everything we do aims to make the market more effective for both property consumers and professionals alike. Our mission is to provide the most useful online property experience by:
- displaying property listings along with value and price trend information
- providing rich property data and local market information in one place
- enabling users to search for property in a variety of customised ways
- allowing users to engage with professionals via our tools like AskMe
- building relationships between home owners and local estate agents
By combining free, instant value estimates for every UK home with sold prices, local market information and hundreds of thousands of properties available for sale and to rent, Zoopla.co.uk has become the ultimate destination for property consumers to search for property and do their market research. Zoopla.co.uk is the UK's fastest growing property website and we are proud to have been named 'Best Property Portal 2009' (Daily Mail UK Property Awards).
Our unique features, like AskMe™ and TemptMe™ allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else. And our AskAnAgent feature has rapidly become one of the most valued sources of vendor leads for UK estate agents. We calculate our value estimates using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that continuously analyses millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. Our estimates are constantly refined, using the most recent data available and a variety of methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.
Zoopla Ltd is a privately held company with a highly experienced and proven management team, backed by well-respected angel investors and leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture (atlasventure.com) and Octopus Ventures (octopusventures.com). In August 2009 we acquired The Property Finder Group which included propertyfinder.com, one of the best-known and most-visited property websites in the country, as well as other popular online property assets including HotProperty.co.uk.