Parents fork out £73,000 for homes near Scotland's best schools

New research has revealed that parents are paying tens of thousands of pounds more in order to buy a home near some of Scotland’s best schools.

The survey, which was carried out by Bank of Scotland showed that the average price of a home around the country’s top 20 secondary schools averaged £277,134.

Parents are paying almost £73,000 more on average to buy a property near to the best performing schools, but this rises to £120,000 in the catchment areas of four particular schools: Hyndland Secondary School in Glasgow, Cults Academy in Aberdeen, as well as Boroughmuir High school and James Gillespie’s High School, both in Edinburgh.

In the case of homes near James Gillespie’s, buyers are actually paying almost £174,000 more than the local average.

The research also highlighted that for five of the top 20 secondary schools, properties in the catchment area actually cost less than the local average. St Ninian’s High school in East Renfrewshire, rated the fourth best secondary in Scotland, was the best performing of these where homes are 2% lower than the rest of the local authority.

Over the last five years, homes in the catchment areas of the top 20 secondaries have increased by 30%. Properties near James Gillespie’s have risen by 575 and those around Jordanhill School in Glasgow by 50%.

Alan Cumming, National Estate Agency Director, Aberdein Considine said: “Locating near the best performing schools has long been a key influence for parents when buying a home and there’s no doubt that this is increasing average prices in many areas.

Buying a home is for many the biggest purchase they’ll make during their lifetimes and whilst proximity to a great school is very important, there are a range of factors to consider, and it may well be that better value can be had by looking just a little further away.”

Scotland's property experts