The supermarket chain’s impact on local prices can be debated, but there’s no denying that property near its stores sells far above the national average.

Properties in the wider postcode area of a Waitrose store in the UK sell on average for £1,220,296 – almost £1m above the average of £227,001 spent on a home in the rest of the UK.

Homes within quarter-of-a-mile mile of a Waitrose store also sell for £469,933 on average, according to research into Land Registry house sale numbers from Property Solvers.

The eye-watering premiums underline how having Waitrose as your local supermarket is often a clear indication of living in an expensive area.

While this fact may not be a surprise, the marked difference in average prices is noteworthy.

But whether homeowners hit the property price jackpot if Waitrose gains permission for a new store in their neighbourhood, is less clear.

Those believing in the ‘Waitrose effect’ might argue that when the supermarket opens a new branch, homes in the local area see their worth jump.

Others will contest that it’s merely a reflection of the supermarket chain moving in on already expensive areas which they think will be ripe for customers.

The research took the average values of 24,874 property sales over the last two years within a quarter-of-a-mile of stores across the country.

Thirty-six stores were excluded because of no nearby residential property, such as Little Waitrose stores that adjoin petrol stations and those as part of large shopping centres where property is almost exclusively commercial.

There were also areas where no residential properties within a quarter-of-a-mile radius were sold in the last two years. This left a total of 315 stores.

The sale price data of homes near stores was then compared to the average sold property prices within the same postcode area.

The data also found that just 19.4% of properties close to a Waitrose store are under the UK national average, and this drops to only 3.2% of properties in the wider postcode area.

The cheapest properties located close to a Waitrose store were found in Wolverhampton (WV2), Preston (PR5), Sheffield (S11), Northumberland (NE46)
and Northwich (CW9).

The most expensive properties located close to a Waitrose store were found in Central London in Belgravia (SW1X), Marylebone (W1U), Knightsbridge (SW3), Kings Road (SW3) and Notting Hill Gate (W11).