The two areas which have seen significant growth in the UK in the past twenty years are the property market and the sports industry.
Recently eMoov revealed that house prices around the Emirates Stadium rose a staggering 547% since Arsene Wenger joined the club in 1996.
Meanwhile, the Premier League has become the richest football league in the world while Britain had what was viewed as one of the most successful Olympic Games in 2012.
But can sport really affect the property market? Do prices around sporting venues add or decrease the value of a property? The Weekender has looked at the pros and cos of sport and the property market.
Pros
Last month eMoov found properties in Wimbledon were vastly inflated due to the tennis championships which take place there every year.
“It’s not too surprising property around Wimbledon comes out on top in terms of price,” commented Russell Quirk, Founder and CEO of eMoov.
Many people like to live next to their favourite sporting venues especially in the days of high commuter fares and high ticket prices.
However, it is not only sporting venues which impact on the property market, as sport stars themselves can have an influence.
The former home of golfer Rory McIlroy, recently went up for sale for £2.5m according to online estate agent Zoopla.
With the growth in sport over the past 20 years, more and more sportsmen and women are investing their money in high valued properties.
Former England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is one such sportstar turned property investor and he has now recently launched his own property academy for young people looking to move into that field.
Meanwhile, Stratton Funding has recently launched with the backing of two former Premier League players, Paul Elliot and Ugo Ehiogu.
Stratton Funding has launched with the aim to of becoming a specialist lender to the sporting community.
Will other lenders follow this route considering the amount of money in sport now? That will be for time to tell.
Cons
Despite the many benefits sport can have on the property market, there are also a number of negatives it can also have.
Being located near a major sporting venue has many downsides on matchdays including, transport delays, noise and more worryingly, rising crime rates.
According to data collected by University College London, there were 848 incidents on a matchday compared to 450 when there wasn’t a match.
This therefore is a worry for any residential property or commercial owners who can be affected by sporting events.
Many off-licences can lose trade on matchdays due to the ban on serving alcohol around grounds on these occasions which makes them miss out on potentially thousands of pounds of passing trade.
Commercial property owners can also feel the wrath of sports teams when they wish to expand their stadiums.
Tottenham Hotspur were able to take out a compulsory purchase order on local business, Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd.
This forced a family-run business to sell their land next to the White Hart Lane after the High Court ruled in favour of the Premier League side.
Obviously there are always two sides to every story; sport can have a real positive impact on many local areas, such as Stratford which has been transformed since the Olympic Games.
What is certain is that sport and property are definitely intertwined and that bond is only likely to strengthen in the future.
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