Prime rural property prices outpace central London

Prices of the top country properties are rising faster than those in the most sought-after areas of London, research has found.

An index of prime country house prices by agent Knight Frank went up 0.9 per cent in the first three months of 2015, against 0.2 per cent in prime central London - only the second time it had beaten the urban index since 2009.

The annualised growth in value of country houses slowed to 2.5 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent in December.

While the pace of price growth between the two markets is narrowing in the short term, the data over the decade from 2005 puts property in the capital far ahead: a prime country house worth £1m in 2005 is now worth £1.02m on average; if located in prime central London it is now worth £2.38m.

But in the long term both property types are put in the shade by the performance of English farmland, according to a second index by Knight Frank published on Friday. The average value of farmland in England rose by almost 2 per cent in the three months to March 2015 to reach a record £8,059 per acre.

Over the past year that equates to an average increase of 10 per cent and over the past decade of 192 per cent - compared to 138 per cent for prime central London over the same ten-year period.

Clive Hopkins, Knight Frank head of farms and estates, said: "In central England we are continuing to see a rise in the prices paid across all land types and quality…. In agricultural counties such as Herefordshire, Lincolnshire and East Anglia, we have been seeing a massive investment in intensive agriculture and renewables."

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