Lords of the manor rarely live in their ancestral homes these days, vicars have largely been dispossessed of their vicarages and ‘serfs’ no longer call cottages home, but the feudal property pecking order is alive and well.
The average price of a manor house is £2,102,344 – 11 times higher than the national average. This is nearly double the average sale price of the next most expensive quintessentially English home, the farmhouse, with an average sale price of £1,089,857. The least expensive of these quintessentially English homes is the cottage.
However, on a square footage basis cottages, with their typically cosy rooms, rustic beams and quaint features, do not offer the best value for money. The stereotypically roomier barn conversion and old rectory come in at around £288 per square foot and £234 per square foot on average respectively. Cottages are more expensive on this basis, at £320 per square foot.
Farmhouses come somewhere in the middle of the feudal pecking order and are the next most expensive home after the archetypal manor house. While manor houses are on average over £1 million more expensive than a farmhouse, manor houses offer better value for money on a price per square foot basis (£343 per square foot) due to their sweeping, spacious rooms.
For buyers looking for bang for their buck when it comes to space, manor houses look like an attractive option, particularly as the average price per square foot (£343) is just £23 more than a chocolate box cottage (£320)!
Barn conversions are a significant £378,066 less expensive than old rectories – that’s more than the average sale price of a typical UK property. However, on a price per square footage basis old rectories offer better value. Barn conversions with their generally large open-plan entertaining spaces fit in well with modern lifestyles and dinner party culture – which is reflected in the square footage premium they attract.