Houses on Screen

From big budget films to small screen sitcoms, British properties have featured heavily in some of our most popular and well-loved shows and movies.

They’ve had a big impact, too – with 27% of 500 people we surveyed saying they’d happily pay more for a property if it meant living near a famous location.

But exactly how much would it cost you to live as the main character in Notting Hill, or Bridgerton?

We’ve looked at the price of some of the best-known houses on screen and compared them with the average cost of living in those locations…

1. The Downton Abbey House

After six seasons and more than 50 episodes, the glamour and grandeur of Downton Abbey is engrained in lovers of classic period dramas.

The properties aren’t bad, either, and while the aristocratic dwelling of the Crawley family is based in Yorkshire, the real house used in fictional Downton Abbey is actually Highclere Castle in Hampshire.

The castle is a Grade I Listed property dating from the late 1600s and was also used as a major filming location for 1990s comedy series Jeeves & Wooster.

From the 500 people we surveyed, 22% said the Downton Abbey House had provided inspiration for their property choices.

And it’s fair to say the wealthy Crawleys would have no problem funding a property in the RG20 postcode of Highclere Castle, with an average home in the area priced at £145,000.

2. Bridget Jones’ flat

It seemed that not a day when by without some kind of drama in the life of London’s most famous spinster.

Journalist Bridget’s flat was the scene for much of that drama across three films starring Renée Zellweger.

Bridget Jones’ flat is actually just around the corner from Borough Market in Southwark, South East London, with 25% of 21-to-24-year-olds in our survey saying it had influenced their property choices.

Close to the Thames and also London Bridge station for superb transport links, it’s no surprise to see the average property in the area commanding a price tag of more than £2million.

3. Will’s house in The Inbetweeners

Socially awkward and full of adolescent faux pas, The Inbetweeners graced our screens between 2008 and 2010, before two films were also released in 2011 and 2014.

The modern, estate-style home of lead Inbetweener Will McKenzie was featured heavily in all seasons and now Will’s approaching his mid-thirties, he might even be able to afford to buy it – or at least a home in the same area.

Much of the Inbetweeners series was filmed in and around Abbots Langley near Watford and Will’s house lies in the WD5 postcode – where the average price of a property
is a reasonably affordable £490,000.

At £805,000, however, Will’s house would stretch many budgets, although more than 30% of 18-to-20-year-olds in our survey confirmed they’d taken inspiration from the property.

4. The properties of Notting Hill

Who doesn’t love a Richard Curtis rom com?

There have been a few, with most of them starring Hugh Grant – but few have featured a property as well-known as his character William’s ‘flat with the blue door’ in 1999 film Notting Hill.

The film certainly had a huge impact on house hunters, with one quarter of Britons we surveyed saying Notting Hill has previously inspired their property choices.

Our survey also revealed Notting Hill as the film that’s had the greatest influence on property choices in the UK, followed by Love Actually and Downton Abbey.

The flat’s price of £595,000 makes it hugely affordable for West London.

Elsewhere in W11, the home of William’s friends Bella and Max also features in the film, with the property worth a huge £9.2million.

That’s a bargain compared with other properties in that part of Notting Hill, however, with the average home selling for an incredible £11.4million.

William’s flat with the blue door

Bella and Max’s house

5. The best homes in Love Actually

Another Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant gem, Love Actually graced the Big Screen back in 2003 and featured a whole host of homes owned by the likes of Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, and Colin Firth.

The film also featured Keira Knightley’s character Juliet and her house, which in real life is located in Notting Hill and worth £3.25million – some £2million more than the average property in the postcode.

At the other end of the spectrum, Martine McCutcheon’s character Natalie’s home in Wandsworth is actually a property further east in Herne Hill worth £1.7million – around triple the value of an average home in the postcode.

Juliet’s house

Natalie’s house

6. Fleabag’s house

BBC comedy series Fleabag was on our screens for 12 episodes between 2016 and 2019 and starred series writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the angry and confused Londoner Fleabag.

Almost all the series was filmed in and around the Dartmouth Park area of Camden in North London and Fleabag’s flat featured heavily.

Much of the internal scenes were filmed in a studio, but a flat in N19 would cost an average of £450,000.

7. The family house in Outnumbered

Like 2.4 Children before it, Outnumbered quickly became a classic British sitcom – this time following the lives of the middle class Brockman family in Chiswick, South West London.

Father Pete was a history teacher and wife Sue a Personal Assistant and they’d require more than £800,000 to buy a home in Wandsworth postcode SW18, where the real property used for filming is based.

To buy the property used in the sitcom, meanwhile, the Brockmans would need even more capital, with its price tag a daunting £1.79million.

8. The student house in Fresh Meat

Fresh Meat revolved around the lives of six students studying at the fictional Manchester Medlock University.

The six, including Jack Whitehall’s character JP and Inbetweener Joe Thomas as Kingsley, live in a student house close to the campus.

Assuming all six have now graduated with Honours, they may be able to afford their old digs, which is really in South Manchester suburb Whalley Range, close to Old Trafford.

The Fresh Meat house, which is located in South Manchester suburb Whalley Range, has a price tag of £261,000 in the real world, with the average property price in the area more than £100,000 less at £156,000.

9. About Time’s coastal house

Film About Time was released in 2013 and starred the likes of Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy and Margot Robbie.

Much of the film was shot on location in Cornwall and the family home featured is stunning nine-bedroom, Grade II Listed property Porthpean House right on St Austell Bay.

The property itself last sold for a very affordable £505,000 and is rented for £5,750 per week.

10. Mark’s building in Peep Show

With nine seasons between 2003 and 2015, Peep Show became the longest-running sitcom in Channel 4’s history in 2010.

It featured the lives of Mark and Jez, the self-styled El Dude Brothers, who lived in Mark’s studio flat in Croydon, South London.

The property used for filming is also in Croydon, with a price of £189,750 – affordable for loan manager Mark but perhaps not for unemployed musician Jez.

11. The Bridgerton family home

Set in Regency London, Bridgerton is the latest period drama taking Netflix by storm.

The series was filmed in various locations around the UK, including Bath’s Royal Crescent, Castle Howard in York, and Wilton House in Wiltshire.

The Bridgerton family home, however, although fictionally based in Grosvenor Square, London, is actually Ranger’s House in Blackheath, South London.

The 1722 Georgian mansion backs on to Greenwich Park and is Grade I Listed and with Georgian-style homes hugely popular, it was perhaps no surprise to find that 19% of those people we surveyed said the property had influenced their own choices.

Average property prices in SE10 are around the London average at £605,000.

Methodology

TV property homes were searched on HM Land Registry and Streetcheck to find property values. This was then used to compare the property with an average property in the same postcode. Data correct as of March 2022.

Further reading…

How much it costs to live near the royal family

Your complete guide to Victorian property

Property prices along the River Thames