Can A Romantic Street Name Increase Property Value?

With thousands of loved up couples looking to fly the nest and purchase their first home every week, romance is certainly a big factor when it comes to property. Intrigued to discover just how important the role romance plays in the property market, we sought to find out whether having a romantic street name could increase the value of a property in the UK.

The research

To reveal the true effects of a romantic street name, we conducted a study of property prices across the UK, with a primary focus on the 705 streets in the UK with a romantic term in their name. After comparing the value of the properties on these love-related streets with the average property prices in the UK, we discovered whether a property situated on street with a romantic name adds or deducts value from a property.

Do romantic street names add value to your home?

Across all 705 romantic street names, we can reveal that a romantic street name could potentially decrease your property value by £854. This is because the combined average value of properties on romantic streets cost £315,662, which falls short of the average value of a UK property (£316,516).

However, our study did find that certain romantic words proved more valuable than others, with the most valuable set to increase a property’s value by an impressive £1,172,736.

The most popular romantic terms in UK street names

After trawling through hundreds of street names in the UK, we can reveal the most common romance-related words found.

‘Rose’, a flower that is symbolic of romance and love and often gifted on Valentine’s Day, was the most commonly referenced romantic term found on UK streets. The romantic term was included in 222 of the street names studied, with many streets titled ‘Rose Lane’, ‘Rose Street’, and ‘Rose Avenue’ across the country.

‘Love’ is referenced in 140 street names in total across the UK, thus ranking in second. ‘Love Lane’ was the most popular street name that included this term, with streets titled’ Lovers Lane’ and ‘Lovers Walk’ also found across numerous UK regions.

The third most romantic popular term found in UK street names was ‘Dove’. The word dove carries connotations of love and devotion but also refers to a breed of bird which mates for life. The term ‘dove’ was included in 127 of the street names studied, some of which include ‘Dove Close’, ‘Dove Street’, and ‘Dove Lane’.

The romantic street names that may add value to your property

Our research found that certain romantic terms could potentially add more value to your home than others, with the following romance-related words likely to increase your property value the most:

The loving term ‘Sweet’ could increase property value the most, with our study estimating that street names containing this word could be worth up to £1,172,736 more compared to the average value of a UK property (£316,516) – the highest difference of all romantic street names studied.

Interestingly, ‘Sweet’ was one of the most exclusive romantic terms in road names, only found six times altogether throughout the whole of the UK. Of all of the romantic UK streets studied, the highest valued properties were situated on ‘Sweet Street’ in Yorkshire and the Humber, with a staggering average value of £6,092,740.

Street names mentioning the word ‘Chivalry’, which means to exhibit loyal, respectful and courteous behaviour in a relationship, can potentially increase the value of a property by an estimated £391,089. ‘Chivalry Road’ in London hosted properties with an average value of £707,605, which is £46,851 more than the average value of properties in the region, and a whopping £391,089 more than the average value of properties in the UK.

‘Groom’ to be the third most valuable word according to our study and was found in eight street names across the country. The average property value for streets including ‘Groom’ is estimated to be £646,004, which is £329,488 higher than the UK average property value. The highest valued street that included ‘Groom’ was ‘Groom Place’ in London, which has a current average property value of £2,429,901. Properties on this particular street were valued at £1,769,147 more than the regional average, and £2,113,385 more than the UK average!

The romantic street names that may deduct value from your property

However, just as certain romance-related terms were found to increase the value of properties in the UK, certain romance-related terms were revealed to have an adverse effect. The following love-related words are set to potentially decrease the value of your property if included in your street name:

The term estimated to reduce the value of your property the most was ‘Partnership’, with properties on this street valued at £142,868 less than the UK’s average property value. Fortunately, only one street in the whole of the UK featured the term, which was ‘Partnership Court’ in North East England. Properties situated on this street had an average value of £172,648, which was £22,562 less than the regional average, and £142,868 less than the UK average.

Next is ‘Diamond’, which was included in 58 street names across the UK. On average, properties hosted by streets including ‘Diamond’ in their name were valued at £232,944, which is £83,572 less than the average value of a property in the UK. Although diamonds typically suggest wealth and prosperity, having this term feature in your street name has an adverse effect on your property value!

Interestingly, ‘Dove’ and ‘Rose’ which were both among the most common romantic terms found in street names are also the terms that could potentially reduce the value of a property. By comparison, the five romantic terms that were set to increase property values were included in less than 10 street names each, suggesting that the exclusivity of the term could possibly affect value.

A breakdown of romantic street names in UK regions

Interestingly, it was not only the specific term that determined whether a romantic street name could add value to your property, but it was also what region that street was situated in, with romantic street names adding value to properties in some regions but reducing the value in others.

The regions where a romantic street name may increase your property value

Our study found that romantic street names could increase property value the most in London, where properties situated on love-related street names were estimated to be valued at £303,759 more than the UK average.

Unsurprisingly, London was home to some of the most expensive properties, with an average property value of £620,275 on these streets – similarly to our research looking into whether a royal street name may increase a property’s value. Of the 51 romantic street names in the capital, the roads with the highest values include ‘Rose Street’, ‘Groom Place’, and ‘Valentine Row’.

Romantic street names were set to add the second most value in South East England, with our research estimating that they add an average of £125,447 more than the average UK property value of £316,516. A few of South East England’s most valuable street names include ‘Honey Lane’, ‘Sweet Lane’, and ‘Love Hill Lane’.

The regions where a romantic street name may decrease your property value

Unfortunately, for those living in certain regions, a romantic street name is set to reduce your property value. In North East England, properties on love-related street names were estimated to be worth £191,742 less on average than the UK average property value.

There were similar results for North West England, where it was revealed that having a romantic street name could potentially reduce your property value by £153,455 on average compared to the average value of properties in the UK.

Other regions that saw a romantic street name decrease their property value include Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, Scotland, East Midlands, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In fact, having a romantic street name was found to potentially reduce property value in eight regions, and increase the value of a home in just four.

The UK regions with the most romantic street names

To find the most romantic regions in the UK when it comes to street names, we also analysed street name data to discover which regions were home to the highest number of love-related street names.

Our analysis found that South East England is home to the most love-related street names in the UK (115), making it the most romantic region. South East England hosted 44 more romance-related street names than the regional average, which was 71.

South East England was shortly followed by the East of England, which had just 6 fewer romantic street names. The East of England was home to 109 love linked street names, which is 38 more than the regional average. This made it the second most romantic region in the UK.

The third most romantic region in the UK, with 85 street names relating to love was Yorkshire and the Humber. This region had 14 more romance themed street names than the average per region.

Methodology:

• To source all of the romantic-related street names in the UK, OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk used https://www.streetlist.co.uk/ and https://www.zoopla.co.uk.
• We then used Zoopla to find the average house price of each of these streets (average of all houses on the street). This figure represents an estimate by Zoopla of the average value of a house on a given street.
• Zoopla was also used as a source for average house prices by regions within the UK.
• We then compared these values to the average house prices at regional and UK level to see if romantic-related streets are valued higher or lower than the average.
• The romance-related terms studied were: bride, chivalry, cupid, date, diamond, dove, groom, heart, honey, kissing, love, lovers, marriage, partnership, ring, rose, sweet, and valentine.
• Figures were correct as of data collected.