Surrey’s 'most desirable' postcode with rural appeal and good transport links to London has seen house prices skyrocket in the past 12 months, but a local estate agent say the area has “always been popular”.
GU21 - which includes Woking areas north of the station as well as the villages of Knaphill, St John’s, Horsell, and Goldsworth Park - witnessed the county’s steepest average property price increase in the year to August 2023.
This is according to Land Registry data that showed the average price in the area climbed 17.2 per cent in the twelve-month period to reach £535,000. This is nearly £79,000 more than the recorded average at the same point in 2022. Every Surrey postcode that saw a rise in prices can be found here, as well as those that saw a drop.
In addition to the price increase, GU21 also recorded the second-most total sales at 525, just 25 less than the RH1 postcode but 65 more than third-placed KT12. The TW15 and GU19 postcodes covering Ashford and Bagshot were the only other areas in the county that saw a price increase within a percentage point of GU21.
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Based in Knaphill within the postcode and covering Woking and its surrounding villages, local experts at Brandons Estate Agents responded to the data and remarked on the “desirable” location. Woking-born director Tony De Piano said: “This area has always been popular because of the quick access to London.”
He continued: “House prices in Woking compared to the boroughs of London, you get much better value for money. I think that’s the reason there, and also we’ve got some very good schools in the area, so it’s a combination of the two factors.”
Tony has lived in the area all his life, worked there for 37 years, and set up Brandons Estate Agents 17 years ago. He concluded the market has always been good in the area because “there’s always demand” but said: “The problem is, it’s being fueled by a lack of property. That’s why the demand seems higher. Certainly in GU21, GU22, GU24, the Woking postcodes, there’s always demand. The demand seems higher because of a lack of stock, which in turn pushes the prices up."
The 55-year-old continued: “Not only have we got good transport i.e. the train, but we’ve got good road links, so you’ve got quick access to the M3, the A3, and the M25. It’s the commuter belt.
“If you need to go into London, you’ve got quick access because of the roads and the train, but also now that more people are working from home, you’re in a nice rural location. And you get a lot more for your money than you would do say if you were looking in Tooting, Balham and the closer to London you go.”
Information from property listing site Rightmove supported the data and revealed that the majority of sales in the GU21 postcode involved detached houses that sold for an average of £860,000. This was followed by semi-detached homes that fetched £549,000 and terraced properties that reached an average of £408,000.
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