Postal districts were first introduced in London in 1857. But, it was only a full century later, when the Post Office experimented with electromechanical sorting machines, that the modern-day postcode system was devised.

Normal for Norfolk

Initially Norwich, with its eight such devices, was selected as the testbed for a system which had been rolled out nationally by 1974.

Over the next decade, the Post Office ran a series of campaigns to encourage households to embrace and adopt the postcode as a matter of habit.

It clearly worked, as research carried out by the Royal Mail in 2016 found that more than twice the proportion of the population found it easier to remember their postcode (92%) than their wedding anniversary (46%).

Meanwhile, households in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead campaigned (unsuccessfully) to have their SL postcode prefix replaced with WM, in order to lessen the association with Slough.

The precise extent to which postcode envy affects house prices is largely a matter of conjecture, but we can identify those postcode districts which carry the biggest premium over their postcode area. And that, in turn, allows us to identify some of the most prized parts of the country to live in.

House price hotspots

28 of the postcode districts in our top 30 carried an average house price at least double that of the postal town with which they are associated.

At the top of the list comes B94, which includes the picturesque villages of Tanworth in Arden, Hockley Heath, Aspley Heath, Earlswood and Kingswood. Here, the average house price is three times the average across locations grouped under the Birmingham postcode prefix (and more than 40% higher than neighbouring B93, which also made the cut by virtue of the delights of Dorridge and Knowle).

Elsewhere, the list contains a healthy dose of desirable coastal postcodes from KY16, north of the border (St Andrews) to PL28 (Padstow and Constantine Bay) and other waterfront locations, such as LA22 (Ambleside).

Popping up again

Among these sit a group of three-to-four-digit combinations, which cover some of the most affluent commuter locations in South East England, such as GU25 (Virginia Water) and HP9 (Beaconsfield), places which featured in our recent list of the country’s most aspirational towns. And, irrespective of the protestations of the residents of SL7 (Windsor), it also makes an appearance in the mid-to-late 30s.

The crossover with our previous research does not stop there, with postcodes such as NE20 (Ponteland and Darras Hall), S32 (Hathersage and Grindleford) and AB13 (Milltimber) previously appearing as supercar ownership hotspots.

The likes of W8, SW3, and W7 ensure a central London representation, but otherwise, the geographical spread of locations carrying the largest house price premiums is a testament to the undeniable bearing that postcodes have on the perceived desirability of an area; an unexpected outcome of attempts to increase the efficiency of our mail service nearly 70 years ago.

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_{Read the articles within Prime UK Residential – Spring/Summer 2025 below}