Location, location and... Why transport links matter

The old adage has never been more true. Green and pleasant lands have seen huge interest over the last year, but committed urbanites will still pay a premium for well connected properties.

As people have been travelling less and staying more local, the importance of being near transport links might be thought to have declined. Not so, according to Nationwide Building Society who found that households are still prepared to pay a premium for easy access to work and leisure.

As a follow up to their 2019 report, they looked at the difference in property values relative to their proximity to transport links. They chose to focus on three cities - London, Manchester and Glasgow. The period covered was April 2020 to March 2021, so should reflect any changes brought about by the pandemic.

Nationwide compared prices for properties within 500 metres of a metro or railway station with similar properties further distant.

Londoners pay the largest premium by far, perhaps because such a high proportion travel to work and relatively fewer drive cars. The average additional price paid for a home within 500 metres of a tube station was £48,600 - 9.7% - compared to the same property 1,500 metres away.

Comparable figures for Glasgow show a premium of £11,400, or7.2%, whilst the figure for Manchester was £11,000, or 6.1%.

There is a message here for property investors. Renters enjoy the same benefits of close transport links as owner-occupiers, so when applying the old saying 'location, location, location', proximity to a metro or rail station should be a key consideration.