It does matter, i am house hunting at the moment and i have checked postcodes of suitable houses to check how far it is from the exchange and weather Virgin has lines installed :).

But then that just me :)

I'm struggling to work out how valuable this particular study is though - they havent linked (that I could find) exactly where or how they polled these people.
If, as I suspect, it was of people who already visited “ISP review” then surely such a study is biased by the sort of people who would visit it, and therefore like asking buyers of chocolate if they like chocolate?

That all said, I also would factor it in. But that's just me, my wife thinks differently.

I didn't factor it in, if I did, I may not have moved to the village I currently live in (although I was pleased to see I could probably lob a rock at the exchange from my bedroom window :D).

To me its quite important to have a fairly low latent link for work. Thing is its not hard to find that nowadays. Back when I was just an anoying 16 yo, who has no say over were he lives really, yes it would have mattered.

I am looking at houses and haven't even considered it.

It wouldn't alter a decision on it's own for me, but the first thing I did after viewing a house I liked in Solihull recently was check how far from the exchange it was and whether Virgin was available. It was, and they're due for 100Mb upgrade in June, just in time for me to move in! Offer put in and accepted btw ;)

Atleast I'm not the only one! Was really happy to know that I was connected to one of the 24meg exchanges when I moved house. Was very dissapointed to find that I could only get 4.5meg. Should probably have checked before moving, not that it would actually have had much influence on my decision. Admittedly, it is the reason why I won't move to any of the villages nearby.

I hate the fact that someone has suggested this. It sickens me. Aren't UK house prices inflated enough already.

PeteSmith
I hate the fact that someone has suggested this. It sickens me. Aren't UK house prices inflated enough already.

As I read it, this isn't going to push up average prices, but is more about redistributing the worth centrally around exchanges (amongst many other variables).
So, if I'm correct, it doesn't have to ‘sicken you’ since you can use it to your advantage to get a cheaper place.

If you look at it from the other way places which dont will be cheaper.

I also take into consideration what the internet connection will be like

Sounds silly to me. Assuming you're buying a house for at least a few years, then if you care about broadband you'll probably want fibre to the cab/kerb/home/premise or something, which means distance to the exchange is meaningless.

And the actual practical loop length can vary a lot regardless of physical or even street distance to an exchange that this isn't always a good measure of performance. That's why there's problems with current predicted broadband speeds. Imagine the trouble if people attribute say £2k of property value to being 250m from an exchange and then still only get 4kbps ! OMG call a lawyer :surprised:

Its been a factor for me for the last 10 years…. If I couldn't get broadband then I wasn't interested in the property.

If I were to move now not being able to get 8mb broadband would stop me buying. Not sure I would pay more for faster… as faster is always going to be a moving target… if you can get 8mb now then you are going to keep getting faster connections on a regular basis.

MSIC
As I read it, this isn't going to push up average prices, but is more about redistributing the worth centrally around exchanges (amongst many other variables).
So, if I'm correct, it doesn't have to ‘sicken you’ since you can use it to your advantage to get a cheaper place.

By getting a place further away from the exchange? Oh and BTW it won't be ‘cheaper’, it will be the same high price. It's just now the houses closer to the exchange ‘could’ be more expensive. That's how i read it.

It's nice to see that out of all the compromises we have to make when looking for a property (1st time buyer perspective), broadband could possibly be another factor weighing the odds against you.

Personally i can't see it happening, but the fact that someone wrote this in the 1st place, sickens me.

PeteSmith
By getting a place further away from the exchange? Oh and BTW it won't be ‘cheaper’, it will be the same high price. It's just now the houses closer to the exchange ‘could’ be more expensive. That's how i read it.

It's nice to see that out of all the compromises we have to make when looking for a property (1st time buyer perspective), broadband could possibly be another factor weighing the odds against you.

Personally i can't see it happening, but the fact that someone wrote this in the 1st place, sickens me.

You're muddling up correlation and causality.. or something. Broadband is desirable. Thus, houses with faster broadband are worth more than houses with no broadband. Hardly rocket science, and it's nothing to do with what someone writes. It's a simple bit of market economics - a house is priced at what it's worth to buyers, ideally, and it's worth more if it has faster broadband and worth less if it has slower broadband. Commenting on the prices of houses being affected by broadband speed is hardly sickening, any more than the prices of houses being affected by local schools.

No i'm really not. Locality to schools, is different entirely. I think it's a pretty poor comparison.

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.

That should be "Mid-January 2011 and February 2011".

With such a low sample rate it's as reliable as those cosmetic adverts, e.g. 8 out of 10 customers approve then you see the small print; from a sample of 48 :rolleyes:

PeteSmith
No i'm really not. Locality to schools, is different entirely. I think it's a pretty poor comparison.

Why? Both are things that are desirable to buyers, both are things that buyers will pay more for, ergo, price goes up :confused:

You're not making sense.

PeteSmith
No i'm really not. Locality to schools, is different entirely. I think it's a pretty poor comparison.

Is it any different to people picking to live in a certain area because there's a new motorway being built / existing motorway that'll mean a 15 minute rather than 45 minute commute to work?
Or next to other infrastructure such as good bus routes, train station etc…?

For me, a good broadband speed is crucial not only for personal leisure time but also business. So it's going to be a huge consideration when I'm looking at a new property, probably towards the end of summer.

Ultimately, the area I want is going to be dictated by price, schools, transport links etc… - all the usual “traditional” things you'd expect. But once you know the area (or areas) you are considering, things like exchange difference, broadband options etc… on each individual property all matter - a good extra criteria to use when comparing two properties in different parts.

I simply couldn't live in a property with a poor internet connection. For me, being able to get online and sort out an issue is just as important from a work point of view as having a local train station to shorten the work commute.

But surely all houses will catch up, paying more to than a house 2 streets down to find they get upgraded 2 weeks later.

I can just see the speedtest prints on house listings.

Percy1983
I can just see the speedtest prints on house listings.

Thank you. And lets not forget a couple of thousand pounds more on the asking price! It's ridiculous.

Percy1983
But surely all houses will catch up, paying more to than a house 2 streets down to find they get upgraded 2 weeks later.

I can just see the speedtest prints on house listings.

Not really.

First example: When Virgin (or NTL as they were back then) were putting their cable down in this area 14-15 years ago (roughly), every surrounding street had cable put down *except* a small stretch of my road, which happens to cover my property, which the council wouldn't let them dig up again as they had just put a new surface on it.

Fast forward 15 years… nearly all my neighbours have a choice of Sky or Virgin, Virgin Cable vs BT copper line ADSL etc… We don't.

BT have also announced that their “FTTC” will only be deployed in certain parts of each area - although they might enable an exchange, they have to actually put the equipment out in each cab, and they'll only bring the fibre to the most profitable areas.

It's not the case that things will catch up, and even if it does happen, it's not guaranteed. Infrastructure decisions taken years ago are still having an impact on properties now. Perhaps you've been lucky to live in an area served by BT and Virgin etc… so it's never occurred to you. For me though, its going to be near the top of my list when looking at properties in the areas I want to move to. As a consumer, I want choice.