How much it costs to buy a home in an 'Instagrammable' location

White house next to a lake in countryside

(Image credit: Future PLC / Douglas Gibb)

published 18 July 2022

When buying a house, it being in a pretty location – ideally with a stunning view – is likely at the top of many of our wish lists, no matter how out of reach it might be practically.

But recent research has shown that if buying a property in a super 'Instagrammable' (cool-speak for 'pretty') location is a non-negotiable for you, you can expect to pay a serious premium, compared to a house in an ordinary location.

After conducting a study of 2,000 adults, and combing Instagram for the most-tagged UK locations, Hammonds Furniture recently created a list of the 125 most picturesque places in the country. They then awarded each place an ‘affordability’ score out of 100, assessing the town's price compared to the country average.

The research left them with a list of prettiest places in the UK, that also offer great value for money.

How much more will you pay for a home in one of the UK's prettiest areas?

Unfortunately, it found that homes in the very prettiest locations sold for an whopping average of £471,860 – almost £200,000 more than the average UK property price.

This means that, if you're keen to live in one of the prettiest places in the country, you can expect to pay, on average, £195,000 more, than if you chose to live elsewhere.

Broken down even further, it means that home-buyers keen for a stunning location will pay up to 70% more for their property than the average UK house price. Eek!

Would you still stump up the money for the location/view?

living room with white wall fire place at glass window and wooden flooring

Thankfully, the study also took stock of the stunning areas of that the UK offered the best value for money – providing both a pretty location and a fairly affordable house price. So which locations came out on top?

10 pretty places in the UK that offer the best value-for-money

Margate in Kent bagged the number one spot, with photos of the location having been tagged 959K times (ergo, Instagrammable) – and the house price average being just £286,716, which is 26% lower than the county of Kent's average.

Another Kent location came in second place – Dover, having been tagged 631K times on Insta, and where homes are worth on average £274,982.

Next up is Portmeirion, Gwynedd, in North-West Wales.

House prices here will set you back £172,875 on average, which is more than £100k less than the UK average price – making it a great option for those looking to move somewhere picturesque on a budget.

So those are the top 10 Instagrammable locations around the UK that offer the best value-for-money - but what about those that offer the worst value-for-money?

It'll likely come as no surprise that pricey Cornwall and Gloucestershire dominate the list, with appearances from towns in Norfolk, Oxfordshire, and Sussex too.

Snowshill in Gloucestershire takes the number one spot, having been tagged 15K times on Instagram – with a house price of a whopping £867,500, 148% higher than the average UK house price.

Coming in a close second is Kingham in the beautiful Cotswolds, with an average £960,772 house price, and third was Lower Slaughter, also in the Cotswolds region, with an average house price of £845,000.

So would any of these locations be worth the extra cost for you? Or would you rather go for the better value locations?

Amy Hunt is an experienced digital journalist and editor, now working in a freelance capacity specialising in homes and interiors, wellness, travel and careers. She was previously Lifestyle Editor at woman&home, overseeing the homes, books and features sections of the website. Having worked in the industry for over eight years, she has contributed to a range of publications including Ideal Home, Livingetc, T3,Goodto, Woman, Woman’s Own, and Red magazine.