NEW RESEARCH REVEALS THE TOP PROPERTY FEATURES LEADING TO MUCH LONGER SALE TIMES
Properties with features such as a thatched roof, grade listing or annexe are taking much longer to sell, according to new research from leading proptech business, TwentyEA.
The findings show that properties with ground source heat pumps take on average 63% longer to sell, while properties with a thatched roof take 51% longer to sell and properties with oil central heating take 48% longer to sell.
Surprisingly, ‘green’ features are not helping properties sell more quickly, despite research from Knight Frank showing that a third (31%) of home owners said they would prefer a greener home and would be willing to pay more for it if required.
According to TwentyEA, properties, with ground source heat pumps take 40% longer to sell; solar panels take 9% longer to sell; and EV charging points take 2% longer to sell.
Fig 1 Time to Sell
| Time to sell | |||
| Feature | Feature | Non-Feature | Time to sell difference |
| Disability Features | 159 | 93 | 71.0% |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | 152 | 93 | 63.4% |
| Thatched | 139 | 92 | 51.1% |
| Oil | 134 | 90 | 48.9% |
| Annexe | 132 | 92 | 43.5% |
| Listed | 139 | 97 | 43.3% |
| Air Source Heat Pump | 131 | 93 | 40.9% |
| Flat | 116 | 89 | 30.3% |
| Non-Standard Construction | 116 | 91 | 27.5% |
| Private Road | 111 | 96 | 15.6% |
| Solar Panels | 101 | 92 | 9.8% |
| Solid Fuel | 100 | 92 | 8.7% |
| EV Charging Point | 95 | 93 | 2.2% |
| Outhouse | 92 | 93 | -1.1% |
| Extensions | 91 | 92 | -1.1% |
| Outbuilding | 91 | 94 | -3.2% |
| Converted Garage | 85 | 93 | -8.6% |
NB Research was conducted in May 2022, across all property sales between September 2019 and August 2021. Please note that this was because of the availability of HMLR data.
The research also reveals that fall through rates are much higher for some property features than average, with flats facing the highest fall through rate (27%), followed by listed properties (19%) and thatched properties (17%)
Fig 2: Fall Through Rates
| Feature | Feature | Non-Feature | Fallen Through Rate is more / less by x% |
| Flat | 27.83% | 21.90% | 27.1% |
| Listed | 26.98% | 22.69% | 18.9% |
| Thatched | 26.61% | 22.68% | 17.3% |
| Disability Features | 25.00% | 22.78% | 9.7% |
| Non-Standard Construction | 24.59% | 22.55% | 9.0% |
| Air Source Heat Pump | 24.65% | 22.77% | 8.3% |
| Private Road | 24.14% | 22.76% | 6.1% |
| EV Charging Point | 24.08% | 22.78% | 5.7% |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | 23.80% | 22.78% | 4.5% |
| Annexe | 23.70% | 22.76% | 4.1% |
| Solid Fuel | 23.03% | 22.65% | 1.7% |
| Solar Panels | 22.98% | 22.66% | 1.4% |
| Outhouse | 23.08% | 22.77% | 1.4% |
| Oil | 22.27% | 22.69% | -1.9% |
| Outbuilding | 22.31% | 22.96% | -2.8% |
| Extensions | 22.54% | 23.73% | -5.0% |
| Converted Garage | 21.42% | 22.79% | -6.0% |
Katy Billany, Executive Director of TwentyEA comments: “Our research shows that properties generally tend to sell at around 96% of the initial asking price. Certain property features such as being on a private road, or having an annexe naturally increase the price of a property.
“However, properties with certain features such as being listed, or having an annexe, were sold for an additional 2% under the initial asking price. In monetary terms, this equates to an average difference of obtaining £11,000 less for the property.
“Some of the items on the list are surprising, as you may assume that they are the type of feature which would make a property more valuable. Properties with ground source heat pumps for example would tend to sell in monetary terms at over £17,000 lower.
“Many of these features of course will also come with increased risks, either financial, or legal in terms of extending the conveyancing process, due to additional compliance checks. This may put some buyers off making an offer in the first place, and the latter would definitely contribute to the increased fall through rates.”
Fig 3 Property Prices
| Feature | Non-Feature | PIPA Difference | |||
| Feature | Average Sold Price | PIPA | Average Sold Price | PIPA | |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | £708,415 | 93.31% | £283,390 | 95.76% | -2.45% |
| Listed | £503,771 | 93.70% | £279,860 | 95.82% | -2.12% |
| Annexe | £567,787 | 93.73% | £277,937 | 95.84% | -2.12% |
| Thatched | £484,896 | 93.79% | £282,963 | 95.77% | -1.98% |
| Oil | £383,937 | 94.51% | £279,837 | 95.83% | -1.32% |
| Non-Standard Construction | £256,427 | 94.55% | £284,815 | 95.83% | -1.28% |
| Private Road | £413,874 | 94.61% | £281,507 | 95.79% | -1.18% |
| Extensions | £332,747 | 95.35% | £249,883 | 96.16% | -0.81% |
| Solar Panels | £355,856 | 95.29% | £281,831 | 95.78% | -0.49% |
| Solid Fuel | £346,418 | 95.60% | £279,872 | 95.78% | -0.18% |
| Flat | £210,344 | 95.63% | £291,685 | 95.78% | -0.15% |
| Air Source Heat Pump | £512,874 | 95.63% | £283,151 | 95.76% | -0.13% |
| Outbuilding | £286,364 | 95.80% | £282,253 | 95.74% | 0.06% |
| EV Charging Point | £420,079 | 95.90% | £283,402 | 95.76% | 0.14% |
| Outhouse | £217,614 | 95.93% | £284,568 | 95.76% | 0.17% |
| Converted Garage | £312,092 | 96.21% | £283,112 | 95.75% | 0.46% |
| Disability Features | £246,084 | 96.44% | £283,484 | 95.76% | 0.68% |
NB Instead of directly comparing the price of properties with a certain feature against properties without the feature, TwentyEA has measured the Percentage of Initial Price Achieved (PIPA). This is essentially the percentage of the initial asking price that the property sold at.
TwentyEA are experts in the UK home mover market, providing smart, specific and intelligent home mover data and insight to help agents better understand the challenges of the industry – and crucially how to apply this knowledge to leverage brand power. TwentyEA holds the UK’s biggest and richest resource of factual life event data including the largest, most comprehensive source of home mover data compiled from more than 29 billion qualified data points.
TwentyEA’s customer intelligence and engagement solutions leverage data and technology on agent’s behalf, enabling them to connect with target consumers using unique data insights into the key life events that stimulate customer demand. TwentyEA is part of the TwentyCi group of companies who use data science to improve commercial outcomes for clients.
For further information please visit https://news.twentyea.co.uk or email enquiries@twentyea.co.uk
You May Also Enjoy
Are ‘for sale’ boards becoming obsolete?
A More Affordable Christmas for Homebuyers
Most active property markets in 2025 revealed
The Renters’ Rights Act: turning change into advantage
Lower mortgage rates help Santa deliver 600 more toys this Christmas