Glastonbury headlines festival housing market

Of all major UK festivals, Glastonbury has the highest rate of annual house price growth - up 44% in the last year alone. Being the UK’s largest festival, it’s no surprise that this is the case, with thousands of people making their way into the big festival every year.

Analysis of the UK’s 20 biggest festivals finds some shocking statistics

An analysis of house price data and annual changes in festival postcodes has revealed that a festival adjacent property will set you back £439,311 on average. This is a 12% increase from last year.

While Glastonbury (like many festivals) has been cancelled for the last few years due to COVID-19, the two-year hiatus has revitalised the local housing market. Indeed, house prices in the BA4 (Glastonbury) postcode were found to be rising by a whopping 44% the last year alone. This does not come as a surprise, since the UK was in a major lockdown, and events were delayed until vaccinations rolled in.

No other UK festival comes close to Glastonbury

No other UK festival housing market comes close to Glastonbury, with the next highest rate of annual growth being 29% for the Isle of white. House prices have also increased by more than 20% in the previous year for other popular festival areas, such as Leeds festival (26%), Bestival (22%), Creamfields (20%) and Latitude (20%). Clearly, there is a direct link between increasing housing costs and festival locations.

Festival areas with a lower rate of annual growth

Additionally, festivals such as Wilderness in Oxfordshire's OX7 postcode have been found to have the lowest rate of annual growth at 2%. British Summertime Hyde Park is seen at 3%, which is also home to the highest festival house price, at almost £1.1m. While these festivals are popular and in demand, they do not appear to impact local house prices. This may be due to the fact that house prices in both areas are already high, so only people with a large income are able to afford them. Furthermore, there may be no market for housing near these festivals, because they are either already bought or too expensive for the average person.

Affordable housing in festival adjacent areas

Lastly, although many areas where there are leading festivals are seen to impact housing prices, some postcodes actually offer lower and affordable housing. For example, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee's DD2 postcode has an average price of just £163,958. This just goes to show the UK’s biggest and leading festivals (like Glastonbury) have a huge impact on house prices. Festivals such as BBC’s Dundee on the other hand, being not as popular, have relatively little to no impact on house pricing.

‘A festival adjacent property is likely to cost you substantially more than the UK average’- GetAgent CEO Colby Short

“There’s no better way to spend a hot summer’s day than at a festival but for those looking for a short trip home at the end of a long weekend, a festival adjacent property is likely to cost you substantially more than the UK average.

This is generally due to the fact they are located within city centres where property prices are generally high, or in rural locations where the type of property is often larger and therefore drives up the average price found there.

While the housing market has been running red hot during the pandemic, a 44% annual increase in property prices surrounding Glastonbury festival really does take the biscuit. Whether this is down to a two-year break from festivities for local homeowners, or the buzz around its return and 50th-year anniversary who knows?”

Data and Methodology

UK festival information sourced from Festicket, Timeout and CNTravel. House price data sourced from Property Data.