New research from Woolwich has found that homeowners pay a premium for living in quintessential English lanes. A three bedroom semi-detached house located in a ‘Lane’ is worth on average almost £50,000 more than an equivalent house on a ‘Drive’.

Location Average price 1 Lane £215,262 2 Gardens £211,389 3 Road £196,146 4 Way £191,965 5 Avenue £180,713 6 Close £176,220 7 Crescent £172,201 8 Street £170,394 9 Grove £169,549 10 Drive £166,683

The results show a clear victory for ‘Lane’ with an average price of £215,000, almost 17 per cent higher than the average three-bed semi, at £184,000. Addresses ending with ‘Gardens’ come in second with homes costing an average of £211,000 just ahead of the more common ‘Road’ at £196,000. The cheapest houses can be found on ‘Drive’, which comes in at just £165,000.

Andy Gray, head of mortgages at Woolwich, admits: "It is difficult to believe that the first line of an address can have such an impact on house prices. Perhaps differences are down to the fact that houses on ‘Lanes’ and ‘Gardens’ are often in more desirable, semi-rural locations, where as ‘Roads’ and ‘Avenues’ are much more likely to be in more suburban or built up areas."

"However British homeowners have a history of re-naming their homes to make them sound more appealing, ‘Rose Cottage’, ‘Orchard House’ and ‘The Laurels’ are common examples."

"Perhaps we will see neighbourhoods campaigning to have their ‘Drives’ renamed as ‘Lanes’ in an effort to increase the exclusivity of their properties," Gray quipped.

The Woolwich studied the first line address details of more than 3,000 typical three bed semi-detached houses across England and Wales and referenced them with the properties’ values. The properties examined were sold between June and August 2005.