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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why people pay extra for a posh postcode?

66 replies

NoHolidaysforyou · 08/05/2019 20:42

I was looking at a new build site up north and there was a floor plan I wanted to see at another site that was 4 miles away. The same floor plan at this other site was £70,000 more than the area I was looking at (the same house £410k in the original spot and £480k in the other postcode). It baffles me though because they are both nice areas with outstanding schools. The lady at the sales office got a bit defensive over the price (although I didn't ask about it) and said, "Well you pay for the postcode here." She then didn't seem to want to explain anything really about different houses that were available after I told her that we originally looked at the "cheaper" area.

AIBU to question why people pay for the privilege of living in a certain postcode? My husband almost suspected that we were being discouraged at looking at the nicer area.

The area was a village and would depend on the same facilities/infrastructure/hospital/university etc as the other postcode.

I don't get it. Would you pay extra for a specific postcode?

OP posts:
museumum · 08/05/2019 21:07

Round here it’s definitely all about the schools.

ImTheRealHFella · 08/05/2019 21:10

Wrea Green is a LOT nicer than Fulwood.

ImTheRealHFella · 08/05/2019 21:12

Fulwood is disappearing into a huge new area of Preston out to the Cottam, Longridge, Broughton new build sides.

Wrea Green village has always been v "naice". The new builds are out on the main Blackpool Rd and not in the poshest bit but you have Kirkham Grammar and other Indy schools on the doorstep.

Original poster
NoHolidaysforyou · 08/05/2019 21:14

I'm not a local so I don't understand why Wrea Green is £70k nicer for the same house. It's further from Manchester so... 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 08/05/2019 21:14

Aren't they very different places, one a tiny village, and the other a big town? A quick google shows Wrea Green as a repeated winner of the best kept village with only 1600 residents and Fulwood very built up with 33 thousand.

Very different animals. You'd expect the small well kept village to be more desirable. And thus more expensive due to high demand and few houses available.

Original poster
NoHolidaysforyou · 08/05/2019 21:16

Ah I see your reason there I posted too late. I guess that makes sense but I wondered if there was something about just saying you were from "Wrea Green" as if I was saying I was from the Beverly Hills of the north or something.

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 08/05/2019 21:18

I doubt it's about people wishing to say they live there, and more they actually wish to live there.

UrsulaPandress · 08/05/2019 21:18

Wreak Green is much posher.

I'm not sure you are quite understanding the principle of location.

I moved from a large Victorian semi to a smaller house in a better are that cost twice as much because of where it was (or wasn't).

goose1964 · 08/05/2019 21:19

I don't know about it not being a thing.. Near us people will pay more for a BA postcode than a BS one

BikeRunSki · 08/05/2019 21:19

There’s no “only” in a few miles. The most and least deprived wards in England are “only” 4 miles apart in Sheffield.

Sheffield has some right posh northern postcodes, including its own Fulwood.

BobTheDuvet · 08/05/2019 21:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Summersunshine2 · 08/05/2019 21:24

You need to drive around the areas and get a feel for them.
I have this going on in my town. One half is more expensive/posher than the other. People like to tell you which side they are from there are so many snobs around here.

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 08/05/2019 21:25

Not just a postcode. Exactly same houses literally around the corner from me are 40k+ more just because they have a small 1 car "drive". But they are on really noisy main road. I don't get it🤷‍♀️. Not worth k40+ extra imho

Username321 · 08/05/2019 21:25

It’s just the way it works. We’ve just bought a new build in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire and we could have got the exact same house for £50k less if we’d bought in Sandbach, Cheshire which is also a nice area but Holmes Chapel is more rural and has a village feel so you pay for that privilege. It’s why houses in London cost so much more. The only thing you can’t change about your house is where it is so for me the better location is worth it.

ImTheRealHFella · 08/05/2019 21:26

Fulwood = suburb of Preston. Ok but not as nice as South Ribble side.

Wrea Green = desirable and very pretty rural fringe village close to Lytham (v posh)

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 08/05/2019 21:27

It's not just the actual postcode, it's the area, the people, the residents, local council etc.

Bluntness100 · 08/05/2019 21:27

I'm not sure this one is about schools and trendy shops.

One is a renowned pretty little village with approx 500 houses.

The other is a bustling built up town with approx ten thousand houses.

Of course people will pay a premium to be in the pretty little village. There will be little housing availability as well. The village has won multiple awards for the way its kept. Crime is likely lower. School choice better, smaller intakes, the streets and the surroundings prettier.

The big built up town will not have this going for it, even if it's still nice. The environments to live in are hugely different. The fact they are only four miles apart Is irrelevant. As a pp said. Some of the worst housing locations and some of the best can be very close together.

horizontalis · 08/05/2019 21:30

One is a picturesque olde-worlde village, the other is a far less picturesque suburb of a large town.

That's it basically.

mizu · 08/05/2019 21:30

I guess you could say we paid for the postcode. We live in a 2 bed maisonette with a great garden in a hugely expensive area. Kids can walk to school. The area is pretty much a village but close enough to town that we can cycle or walk. It is safe. It is pretty. It is close to my work. We have family here.

We bought it as it was the only way we would ever be able to live here. Couldn't have afforded much else here within a 3 mile radius anyway.

ihaddedto · 08/05/2019 21:38

shirkey and pugs I’d like to see how you live.
Then show you how/where ^^ live. And see if you’re still laughing.
Those are the sorts of ‘jokes’ made by racists, sexists, etc, who then say “I was only joking when pulled up on itConfused

ihaddedto · 08/05/2019 21:39

shirley phallus that was to.

ihaddedto · 08/05/2019 21:41

OP please tell us the postcodes then just name change straight afterGrin

ihaddedto · 08/05/2019 21:42

Blush sorry you’ve answered the question ages ago.

Gomyownway · 08/05/2019 21:48

Wrea green is a very posh, pretty, small village. Fulwood is not.

It’s not about the postcode at all. It’s the location.

JockTamsonsBairns · 08/05/2019 21:55

It's just basic economics, supply and demand - rather than literally paying for a specific postcode.

I keep having to explain this to my mother. My DB rents a one-bed flat in central London for crazy money. My mum lives in a two bedroom house in a village outside of Glasgow. She can't get her head round why my brother pays so much for his flat as, in her view, hers is much nicer and has a better view out the living room window Grin