House Values Fall by 40% - Speculators Benefit
In 1992-93 the Open University and the Centre for Economic Research on the Global Environment carried out a study entitled 'Valuing the environmental impact of opencast coal mining: The case of the Trent Valley in North Staffordshire'.
The study included a survey of the impact of opencast operations on house prices in villages located near opencast mining activities. The findings of the survey were summarised as follows:
| Property Value |
% Reduction in Property Value |
||
| Village 1 |
Village 2 |
Village 3 |
|
| £35,000 | 21% | 18% |
10% |
| £65,000 | 29% | 24% | 14% |
| £120,000 |
32% | 25% | 16% |
| £250,000 | 40% | 33% | 19% |
The fall in value due to opencast operations depended upon the proximity to the opencast site and the range of properties in each village.
It was noted that property prices were depressed from the time the opencast mine application was raised through to the end of the project. The eventual increase in property prices was thought to be triggered by speculators moving into the area to take advantage of the depressed prices.
Source:
Valuing the environmental impact of opencast coal mining: The case of the Trent Valley in North Staffordshire
CSERGE Working Paper GEC 93-19
A.B. Trigg & W.R. Dubourg