Buying a home will cost 46% more in a national park as homeowners can enjoy easy access to the great outdoors and beautiful countryside.

Research by Lloyds Bank shows homeowners on average must pay 46% premium or an extra £116,500 to buy a home in a national park and enjoy the beautiful countryside on their doorstep.

Across the country the average property value is £368,804 in a national park compared to £252,303 for other homes in the county.

Andrew Mason, mortgage products director of Lloyds Bank said buying a home in one of the most beautiful spots in the country usually comes with a substantial price tag increased further as new development is very limited in these areas.

This makes national park properties less affordable for first time buyers and home movers given the higher prices requiring a larger deposit or mortgage.

Premiums paid for desirable homes

Of the twelve parks surveyed eleven have higher house prices than the average for their county with New Forest, the South Downs, the Peak District and the Lake District attracting a premium in excess of £150,000.

The following table from the Lloyds Bank shows the premium paid for average national park homes compared to other houses in the county in 2017.

National park	House price	Premium
Lake District	£364,193	£186,351
New Forest	£581,448	£268,856
Peak District	£332,706	£151,969
South Downs	£536,208	£209,377
Pembrokeshire Coast	£254,330	£85,962
Dartmoor	£309,154	£65,283
Yorkshire Dales	£277,557	£58,309
The Broads Authority	£311,314	£63,657
Exmoor	£304,627	£61,085
North York Moors	£298,936	£53,570
Brecon Beacons	£222,631	£28,276
Snowdonia	£180,126	-£4,936

The largest premium are for homes in the Lake District National Park with an average price of £364,193 costing 105% or £186,351 more than other houses in the surrounding county.

For home movers wanting to trade up to popular homes in national parks, they may find their next property is more expensive which means they need a larger deposit or mortgage.

Homes in the New Forest National Park are the most expensive with an average house price of £581,448 and attracting a premium of 86% or £268,856 more than homes outside the national park.

These higher prices would mean buy-to-let investors may find it difficult to secure mortgages if the rental income could not exceed the higher interest costs to lenders.

National park homes less affordable

Mr Mason said, with the difference between local earnings and property prices being so large, it can make it very challenging for those living and working in national parks to buy their own home.

The average house price of £364,193 in relation to the average earnings in the national parks is 11.7 times and the highest is the New Forest National Park 15.2 where homes cost £581,448 on average.

For remortgage buyers living in national parks the higher property values allows them to release capital which they can use to improve their home such as a new kitchen or bathroom.

Snowdonia is the only national park where property prices are -3% below the average for the surrounding area.

With an average house price of £180,126, Snowdonia is the most affordable national park in the survey where prices are 6.8 times local average annual earnings.

Average house price in national parks have increased by £51,463 over the past ten years and for remortgage buyers this give them an opportunity to release capital to improve their home.

These higher prices allow the older equity release mortgage buyer to stay in their home while accessing the wealth in their property, using this for any purpose such as enjoying the great outdoors.

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