Effect of public green space on residential property values in Belfast metropolitan area

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to add to the emerging knowledge base in the UK and be of relevance to land use planners and all stakeholders in property taxation. Urban green open spaces are valuable environmental resources often associated with positive influences for quality of life and property value. Design/methodology/approach – Using a hedonic pricing specification, this paper measures the proximate effect of public green space on residential property value. It examines the relationship between 3,854 residential sales transactions and public green spaces across the Belfast housing market gathered from Land and Property Services throughout the year 2011 showing the percentage effect on property value with respect to distance to public green spaces. Findings – The results show that, ceteris paribus, urban green space has a significant positive impact on proximate residential properties sale price for the terrace and apartment sectors and that terrace and apartment property located closer to public green spaces achieved increases in sale price of up to 49 per cent. Adjacency to green open space produced significant property value premiums in only two of the four housing types analysed, with limited statistically significant proximate effects evident for the detached and semi-detached sectors, a finding which has important social and public policy implications. Originality/value – A number of empirical studies have demonstrated that public green space, such as urban parks, have a positive impact on property values. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on this relationship in the UK. This study serves to address this gap by examining the effect of public green spaces on house price within the medium-sized regional city in the UK.

The Effect of Sustainable Urban Planning and Slum Disamenity on The Value of Neighboring Residential Property: Application of The Hedonic Pricing Model in Rent Price Appraisal

“…Previous studies evidenced that neighborhood disamenity, like highvoltage transmission sites [22], remediation sites [23], incineration sites [24], hazardous industrial sites [25], landfill sites [26] and nearby urban villages [27], has an adverse impact on property values. On the other hand, amenities, like parks [28][29][30], public green places [31], professional sports facilities [32] and transportation facilities [33], positively affect nearby property values (See Figure 2). This study focuses explicitly on examining the externality effects of slum settlements on surrounding residential property values in Islamabad.…”

“…The HPM is a widely acceptable and reliable valuation approach because it is based on actual transaction data [56,57]. Ample studies on hedonic price studies have been conducted in different geographical locations around the world to evaluate the externality effect of the environmental amenity and disamenity on proximate property values, such as accessibility to public parks and green spaces [29,31], sports facilities [32,58], transportation facility [33], toxic waste sites [23], incineration plants [24], landfill sites [59], proximity to cell phone towers [60], and hydropower dam [61]. A study based on a meta-analysis was conducted by Simons and Saginor (2006), covering 75 research articles and case studies on the influence of various externalities on the adjacent property values by incorporating the hedonic price model [62].…”

The Impact of Aircraft Noise on Housing Prices in Poznan

“…Having examined these features, it is justifiable to say that the market value of a property is influenced not only by its direct characteristics (such as the size and shape of a plot, the age of a building, construction type, technical condition [18]), but also factors that involve its broadly defined surroundings [19]. Studies of the determinants of housing prices in developed markets often take into account environmental components [20][21][22][23][24]. These factors may be divided into two groups according to the kind of impact: positive influence (e.g., the vicinity of green areas, bodies of water) and negative influence (e.g., noise, air pollution) [21].…”

Raising the standard: Developing a benchmark for green infrastructure

“…These include those operating at a societal level, for example, through improvements to health and well-being and reduced risks to property and infrastructure (e.g. from flooding); and to the local economy through increased inward investment [13], increased tourism and visitors [14] and property prices [15][16][17].…”