Market analysis by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, reveals how much money homebuyers need to spend to live in the same location in which their favourite TV programme is set, from the affordable surroundings of Game of Thrones, to the pricey stomping ground of the late Inspector Morse.
GetAgent.co.uk analysed the current average house price in the local authority areas that serve as the settings or real life filming locations for eight massively popular TV programmes, before analysing how the prices have increased in the past year, and how much they’ve increased since the first episode of each programme aired.
Game of Thrones top for affordability
Of the eight locations, the most affordable house prices are found near Castle Ward, County Down, which serves as the real-world location for the fictional setting of Winterfell in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The castle is located in Northern Ireland’s Newry Mourne & Down local authority area where the current average house price is £186,646.
Inspector Morse most expensive
At the other end of the spectrum, the most expensive TV location is the city of Oxford where the late Inspector Morse lived and worked in the eponymous cosy police drama. The average house in this historic city currently costs £482,715.
Inspector Morse also tops the list when it comes to annual price increases with the average Oxford home now 4.4% more expensive than it was a year ago.
This is followed by Hitchin, Hertfordshire, which serves as the fictional town of Parminster in Dr Foster, where prices have increased by 3.4%; and then it’s the city of Bath and its surrounds which are home to the bright young things of Bridgerton and where prices have increased by 2.8% on the year.
House price growth since each show aired
Morse once again tops the list when it comes to house price increases since the first episode of each TV programme aired.
The first episode of Inspector Morse aired in January 1987 when the average house price in Oxford was £51,118. Today, it is 844.3% more expensive.
Port Isaac, Cornwall, serves as the town of Portwenn in Doc Martin, the first episode of which aired in September 2004. At that time, the average local home cost £180,749. Today, it is 70.6% more expensive at £308,267.
Close behind is the local authority area around Highclere Castle, Hampshire, which serves as the setting for Downton Abbey and where today’s average house price of £358,977 is 70.3% higher than it was when the first episode aired in September 2010.
County Down’s prices have increased by 48.3% since the first episode of Game of Thrones aired in April 2011; Hitching, Herefordshire has seen prices increase by 37.8% since Dr Foster first aired in September 2015; and Wye Valley, the seeing for Sex Education, has seen prices increase by 26.8% since the show first aired in January 2019.
The real-life location of Bridgerton has seen price rises of 19.9% since the first episode landed on Netflix in December 2020; and finally, prices around Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, which serves as Marlborough House and Windsor Castle in The Crown, have increased by 13% since the show began in November 2016.
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:
“We’ve all thought about upping sticks and moving to our favourite TV towns at some point and with so many top shows filmed right here in the UK, the idea isn’t as crazy as it might seem.
However, It could cost you more than you might expect, with all but Game of Thrones coming in with a considerably higher average house price than the national average.
That said, it’s interesting to see that these famous filming locations have all largely held their own in the last year when it comes to house price growth, despite the wider economic landscape. What’s more, they’ve also seen a considerable level of house price appreciation since their respective on screen portrayals first aired.”
Data table…
Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here.
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