House prices at risk as buyers shun properties near polluted rivers - The Telegraph

Properties located next to polluted rivers could be at risk of house price falls, experts have warned, as buyers shun homes next to Britain's toxic waterways.

As the nation watched the final showdown between Sarah Lancashire’s troubled police officer and James Norton’s psychopathic villain in the BBC’s Happy Valley, many viewers were taken with Catherine Cawood’s picturesque hometown of Hebden Bridge.

But the Yorkshire town has hit the headlines for a different reason. Its river, the Calder, was named the second most polluted in the country.

According to data analysed by Top of the Poops, a campaign group, water companies pumped raw sewage into the river for 27,901 hours in 2021. Only the River Severn was dirtier, with nearly 29,000 hours of sewage discharge throughout the year.

Experts have now warned that properties located next to the most polluted rivers could suffer house price falls or become difficult to sell. Just 14pc of Britain’s rivers are considered to be in a “good” ecological condition.

Henry Pryor, an independent buying agent, said: “There's a romantic idea about water mills and houses on rivers, but any open water tends to rule out young families as they are worried about safety.

“But a polluted river would impact the marketing of your house and it might make it more difficult to sell.”

One study carried out by the Grantham Institute, an academic organisation specialising in climate change research, suggested that buyers would pay 1.6pc of the total purchase price to avoid the possibility of indoor pollution.

Academic studies in the US have suggested that there is a link between water pollution and house prices. One study by the University of Florida estimated that just a small increase in water quality could add more than $500m (£420m) onto house prices.

Two of Yorkshire’s rivers featured in the top three most polluted. The River Calder, which passes through Hebden Bridge and Sowerby Bridge, and the nearby River Aire.

Water pollution campaigner Mark Barrow lives in Wetherby, which sits on the River Wharfe – the 16th most polluted – north of Leeds. He is a videographer, specialising in filming in British freshwater, and has had a front-row seat when it comes to the degradation of the county’s rivers.

“Over the years I have seen the pollution getting worse,” he said. “I have filmed during a sewage discharge, right in the middle of it. You can see everything that has been flushed down the toilet – human waste, sanitary pads, condoms. I’ve been covered in it.

“In some areas of Yorkshire I’m now filming more sewage litter than fish. The River Wharfe, the Calder, the Aire. It would concern me. If you are seeing sewage running through the river, combined with the smell, it’s bound to affect house prices in the area.”

Prof Sarah Nicholls, an academic at Swansea University, carried out a summary review of research in the US which concluded there is “convincing evidence” that clean water has a positive effect on house prices.

Data on sale values is harder to access in the UK than in the US, she said, so her research did not cover Britain.

She said: “I would certainly expect the presence of sewage to impact saleability (time to sale) and sales prices in the UK – as a result of the direct effects of the combination of unsightliness, unpleasant odours, reduced recreational attractiveness/potential, and threat to human health, as well as the negative implications for the general health of the natural environment including habitat and biodiversity.”

Richard Donnell, an executive director of online estate agents Zoopla said there were a wide range of factors that go into determining the asking price of a property, with the main drivers being things like outdoor space, transport links and local schools.

He said house prices could be at risk “if the immediate surroundings of a property are negatively impacted by any pollution that impacts the view or quality of the air in the local area”.

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