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£65k for parking space with London new build

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
20/01/2016

Parking spots are adding as much as £65k to the cost of new build properties in London, a report has revealed.

According to research from Direct Line Select Premier Insurance, a parking bay accompanying a new build in Battersea was being sold for £65,000 – a staggering 13% of the property’s £500k listed purchase price.

On average across the UK, developers are charging 5% of a new property’s purchase price for an accompanying parking space.

Researchers found spaces were only included in the purchase price of a new build property in London 18% of the time, a sharp contrast to the 67% included in the price of a property in major cities outside of London.

Parking preference to those buying large or expensive properties

Parking bays have become a desirable commodity due to the restrictions on building them for new properties and in some cases Direct Line had seen, developers gave preference to those buying large or expensive properties.

As an example, a new wharf development in Hammersmith only allows parking spaces to be purchased for those spending over £1.5m whereas in other parts, the availability of parking spaces is restricted to buyers of property with at least two bedrooms.

The alternative is to buy an annual permit to rent out a parking bay but the prices vary hugely: in Brixton, a new build apartment that costs £577k offers a permit for £104 a year, whereas in Bristol, a parking permit to accompany a £425k property costs £1,400.

Nick Brabham, head of Direct Line Select Premier Insurance, said: “As larger scale residential developments are built in urban city centres, traffic volumes will become an increasing issue and planners may restrict the construction of new parking bays even further, making it very difficult for homeowners with vehicles.”

He adds that access to secure parking can impact insurance premiums and as parking spaces become desirable, it’s likely to lead to a growth in people renting out their driveways and spaces to other motorists.

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