As England and Australia go head-to-head in one of the biggest competitions in cricket – the Ashes – specialist prime property finance firm CapitalRise has today revealed how each of the five host grounds rank in terms of their regional housing markets.
What are the Ashes?
England and Australia compete for the smallest trophy in sport roughly every two years, with each host taking it in turns to host the competition. England is currently hosting the 2023 Test cricket series across five grounds: Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord’s (St John’s Wood, Westminster, London), Headingley (Leeds), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (Lambeth, London). The winning nation will claim ‘the Ashes’, a small urn which dates back to the nineteenth century.
Cricket fans first heard of ‘the Ashes’ in 1882 after the Sporting Times published a mock obituary for English cricket after England lost to Australia for the first time on home soil at The Oval on 29th August 1882. When England next toured Australia, the former (captained by Ivo Bligh) was presented with a small terracotta urn, which is believed to contain the ashes of a burnt cricket ball.
Keen to get a closer look at the action? Here’s how much would a pitch-side property would set you back
A property close to Lord’s, situated in St John’s Wood, Westminster, would cost a cool £891,532, up a healthy 15.5% on its price a decade ago. Second in the rankings is Lambeth’s The Oval, where the average property costs just over half a million pounds (£561,538). Despite the highest rate of house price growth in the past ten years (+89.3%), Trafford properties still sit in the middle of the pack with an average price of £362,554. Headingley, Leeds, offers the second most affordable property price tags, with an average cost of £235,586, just marginally ahead of Edgbaston in Birmingham at £225,763.
| UK | Edgbaston | Lord’s | Headingley | Old Trafford | The Oval | |
| Average property price (April 2013) | £170,335 | £130,727 | £771,734 | £137,275 | £191,536 | £351,136 |
| Average property price (April 2023) | £286,489 | £225,763 | £891,532 | £235,586 | £362,554 | £561,538 |
| YoY price change | +68.2% | +72.7% | +15.5% | +71.6% | +89.3% | +59.9% |
Source: Land Registry UK house price data.
Uma Rajah, CEO and Co-Founder, CapitalRise comments: “London is the clear-cut winner in terms of house price valuations, with the average property close to Lord’s worth over three times that of a pitch-side house in Edgbaston, Birmingham. While the other regions, in Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham, saw higher rates of house price inflation in the last decade, London’s property valuations have been far more consistent. This is because buyers and sellers in prime markets, such as central London, are far less affected by macroeconomic conditions like the cost of living, creating a more stable market – with consistently high demand and a finite supply of properties.
“As a leading prime property finance firm, we frequently finance development projects within touching distance of iconic locations such as Lord’s. Desirable areas like St John’s Wood are valued so highly for offering stunning family residences within a stone’s throw of some of the capital’s most popular attractions, including London Zoo, Regent’s Park, and Bond Street. We continue to see plenty of development opportunities within Prime Central London, supported by buyers and sellers from England and further afield.”
