Milton Keynes City status could bring an ￡18,550 house price boost to Milton Keynes Homeowners.
MK Property
We are an independent estate agency, based in Bletchley, and have been established since 1992.
Changing town to city status could substantially boost Milton Keynes's housing market.
The new city status unlocks brand new opportunities for future economic growth for the Milton Keynes region, from commerce, trade and entertainment to the arts and tourism. Our research shows it could also help enhance Milton Keynes's house prices.
We have researched the house price growth across six English and Welsh towns that have attained City status cities since the Millennium and how house prices have changed over the two years following this change to City status (Southend-on-Sea was the seventh town made a city in February, so it's too early to ascertain the effect on house prices)
The six towns that achieved City status between 2000 and 2013 were Brighton & Hove and Wolverhampton in 2000; Preston and Newport in 2002 and Chelmsford and St. Asaph in 2013.
The six towns that achieved City status between 2000 and 2013 saw house prices grow 14.6% higher in the following two years than the English and Welsh average.
2000 Millennium City Competition
One of the towns that achieved City status was Brighton & Hove. Property values in Brighton & Hove grew by 39.79% in the two years after achieving the City status. Wolverhampton grew 34.98% in the same two years. Nationally, the average house price rose by only 25.63%
2002 Golden Jubilee City Competition
Preston and Newport were given city status to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. Two years later, in 2004, house prices increased by 65.49% in Preston and 59.42% in Newport, both outpacing the national growth during the same two years, which was 30.91%
2013 Diamond Jubilee
To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, St. Asaph and Chelmsford were given city status. Chelmsford saw house price growth between 2013 and 2015 of 19.52%, whilst St. Asaph saw house prices increase by 11.17%. The national average was a growth of 14.63%, showing the City status doesn't always guarantee above average house price growth.
Predictions for Milton Keynes
What could city status mean for Milton Keynes?
Presently, the average house price in Milton Keynes is ￡309,260.
We don't believe we will see a growth of 14.6% (as some of the average growth was in the crazy market of 2002 to 2004), yet we certainly believe it will add 4% to 6% on top of Milton Keynes house prices in the next two years, compared to as if the status hadn't been achieved.
That could mean Milton Keynes homeowners could be ￡12,370 to ￡18,550 better off in a couple of years because of the excellent news.