New amenities can be a mixed blessing

When a new shopping centre, major art gallery or new train station opens, estate agents chatter excitedly about how these new amenities will boost local property prices. In Wales and Scotland, expectations are mounting over how new sports facilities may add value to local homes.

In Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, Donald Trump received planning permission on September 1 to create two championship golf courses overlooking the sea. The Trump International Golf Links is scheduled for completion next spring.

Buying agency The County Homesearch Company expects the new golf courses to raise local property values because they will act as a magnet for golfers from around the world, some of whom will want to buy and rent homes nearby.

In Camarthenshire, west Wales, the Ffos Las Racecourse near Trimsaran opened late last month. As the first National Hunt course to be built in Britain for 80 years, this would attract new visitors to the area and boost the local economy, thereby driving up property prices, The County Homesearch Company forecast.

Property prices in Newham, east London, rose 5 per cent above the national average from 2005, when it was announced the 2012 Olympic Games would be held in the borough, to 2007, the height of the property market, said Carol Peett, director of The County Homesearch Company.

Sports facilities are not always good news for property prices, however. Many stadiums can depress values, research by estate agency Savills shows. Houses in streets surrounding Lords cricket ground in north London are worth 62 per cent less than houses further away in the same district.