Housing benefit
A recent survey has suggested that reliable super-fast broadband access could increase UK house prices, as home-hunters take it into consideration when choosing their des res.
A poll by ISP Review which quizzed 733 people between mid July and February of this year, discovered that nearly 2 thirds of Brits would think twice before purchasing a house without a fast broadband connection.
Amazingly, almost half of respondents also said they would fork out more money for a home that had faster connectivity than their current broadband service.
Furthermore, almost three quarters of people said broadband is ‘critically important to their home life' while a measly 1.7 percent claimed it was not important (despite answering a questionnaire online?)
However, it seems people are still happy to ‘get away from it all' on holiday as only 27.2 percent of respondents said they would pay more for a holiday house or hotel with in-room broadband.
While the sample size of the survey is relatively small, the poll seems to demonstrate Brits' appetite for faster broadband connections in their houses and that half at least, are willing to pay more for it and consider it an ingredient in their perfect home.
It will be interesting to note whether prices of homes in areas without the next generation of superfast ISP products go up in value as much as those with faster broadband...although trying to prove it will be almost impossible!
