A draft study is “proof” wind turbines could slash local house prices by 11 per cent, according to the Mail – that’s £27,000 off the price of an average home. But the figure only applies if a house is nearly in the same field as the turbines, according to the research.

The question of whether windfarms impact on house prices is politically controversial. It’s also not that clear. Some reports claim windfarms could increase the value of nearby homes – while others say the opposite.

Professor Stephen Gibbons, director of the spatial economics research centre at LSE, is in the process of producing a new analysis. His draft paper finds that if more than 20 wind turbines are erected within two kilometres of a house, its value is reduced by about 11 per cent. But it also notes that this is an “extreme case” because homes are rarely situated so close to windfarms.

An 11 per cent reduction in house prices? 

Gibbons’s draft paper hasn’t been published yet, but was highlighted in a recent article in the Environmental and Social Research Council’s magazine. It examines all the house sales that took place within 14 kilometres of a windfarm between 2000 and 2012. In total, his data analysis includes 1.5 to two million transactions.

It finds that if more than 20 wind turbines are erected within two kilometres of a house, its value is reduced by about “11 per cent on average”. The Daily Mail and Telegraph online highlight this result – presenting it as “proof wind turbines take thousands off your home”.

But it’s quite unusual for a house to be sitting this close to a large windfarm – a point the papers fail to take into account. As the study says:

“… a postcode within 2km of the centroid [centre] of a 20+ turbine windfarm could be almost at the turbine field, so this price effect could relate to noise and visual flicker problems, and is quite clearly an extreme case.”

To put it simply, not that many homes sit directly next to large windfarms – as the research recognises.

Reducing house prices?  

That’s not to say windfarms don’t reduce house prices in other circumstances. Gibbons’s paper notes a less extreme effect on housing near wind developments. His paper concludes a medium sized windfarm, consisting of 11 wind turbines, reduces house prices by around five to six per cent if it’s two kilometres or less away from a house sale. If it’s within four kilometres, it will reduce the prices by about three percent, and if it’s up to 14 kilometres away, it will reduce the price by about one per cent.

Gibbons’s paper calculates around 2.25 per cent of UK homes are within four kilometres of a windfarm. So it’s probably fairer to say that windfarms could (very roughly) reduce house prices by three per cent, for about two per cent of UK homes, according to this paper.

Studies don’t agree 

The new research is unlikely to be the last word on the matter – as so far a number of different studies haven’t agreed on whether windfarms impact on house prices, or not.

A fairly substantial analysis of 50,000 house sales in North America last year found ” no statistical evidence” windfarms affect on prices. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors argues there is “no definitive answer” to the question, but its survey data suggests there probably is a negative impact. An American study in 2009 found little evidence for the relationship.

Gibbons’s study may make a significant contribution to the body of research on the subject, as it analyses such a large dataset. But as it’s still in draft form, it’s hard to know for sure yet. It’s unlikely to be the last word on the question – despite the Mail’s view on the matter.