From talking cats to bears who are best friends with piglets, children’s TV shows are not always what you’d call realistic.
And to top it all off your favourite black-and-white cat owning Postman is also living in a house you probably can’t afford to buy, according to new research from leading hybrid estate agent, eMoov.co.uk.
The site’s experts have analysed the property markets in the areas where children’s TV favourites such as Fireman Sam live, to see who would enjoy the best return on their property investment from when the show first aired.
Mr Benn would be in for the biggest windfall with properties in Wandsworth, London increasing in value by almost 9,000 per cent since he first hit TV screens in 1971.
And if Winnie The Pooh ventured out of his tree house in Ashdown Forest to settle in a bricks and mortar dwelling, he’d find that house prices in surrounding East Sussex are more than 900 per cent higher than they were in 1983.
Emoov’s experts have analysed the property markets in the areas where children’s TV favourites live, to see who would enjoy the best return on their property investment
Mr Benn
Lives in: Festive Road, Wandsworth
Value in 1971: £6,988
Current Value: £635,067
Increase: 8,988 per cent
The cult ’70s TV show tells the story of a man from 52 Festive Road who goes on a magical adventure every time he enters the costume shop.
Some magic has also occurred with property prices in Wandsworth since he appeared on screen with property values up almost 9,000 per cent.
While it’s certainly pricey to live in the capital, the area is especially expensive with the cost of property 30 per cent higher than the London average.
Mr Benn would go magical adventure every time he entered the costume shop after leaving his home in Victory Road, Wandsworth in London
The average price of a home in Wandsworth is now £635,067, up almost 9,000 per cent since Mr Benn first aired in the early ’70s
Bagpuss
Lives in: Canterbury, Kent
Value in 1974: £19,110
Current Value: £287,339
Increase: 2,742 per cent
Just 13 episodes of the original show were made but Bagpuss is regularly voted the nation’s most popular children’s TV character.
The ‘old, saggy cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams’ presided over a shop dedicated to mending things located in Canterbury where property values have gone up more than 2,700 per cent since the ’70s..
Properties in the area are now 18 per cent higher than the average in England.
Bagpuss presided over a shop dedicated to mending things located in Canterbury where the average property now costs more than £287,000
Not bad work for a cat! A home in Canterbury in Kent is now 2,700 per cent more expensive than it was in the ’70s
Teletubbies
Live in: Stratford-upon-Avon
Value in 1997: £83,914
Current Value: £312,117
Increase: 272 per cent
It’s the birthplace of Shakespeare and also has the slightly less glorious claim to fame of inspiring Tubbyland.
The Teletubbies’ home was based on a farm near Stratford upon Avon, has enjoyed a 272 per cent increase since the Teletubbies first aired.
In 1997, the average house price was almost 50 per cent higher than England as a whole, but that gap has since closed.
It’s still 28% higher than the national average with the average property costing more than £300,000.
The Teletubbies’ home was based on a farm near Stratford upon Avon, where prices have risen by more than 270 per cent
The average property in Stratford-upon-Avon now costs more than £300,000
Postman Pat
Lives in: Valley of Longsleddale, South Lakeland
Value in 1981: £19,419
Current Value: £224,874
Increase: 1,058 per cent
Postman Pat, accompanied by his cat Jess, ensures that the post is delivered throughout the fictional Valley of Greendale, based on the Valley of Longsleddale in in Cumbria’s South Lakeland region.
Although the average house price trails the English average by less than six per cent, it has still increased more than 1,000 per cent since Pat delivered his first round on TV screens.
Postman Pat’s home in Cumbria’s South Lakeland region would have cost just £19,000 back in the early ’80s
Homes in Cumbria have increased in value by more than 1,000 per cent since Pat delivered his first round on TV screens
Winnie the Pooh
Lives in: Ashdown Forest, East Sussex
Value in 1983: £26,893
Current Value: £272,423
Increase: 913 per cent
Pooh and his friends live in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex in delighfully rustic dwellings built into tree trunks.
And perhaps it’s just as well as residents of surrounding East Sussex enjoy a 12 per cent higher average property price tag than the rest of England.
Since Pooh, Eeyore and Piglet first appeared on screens prices in the area have increased by almost 1,000 per cent.
Luckily Pooh is more interested in honey than house prices as the cost of property in Easy Sussex is 12 per cent higher than the national average
Property in East Sussex is up almost 1,000 per cent since Winnie the Pooh first appeared on TV screens in 1983
Bernard’s Watch
Lives in: Nottingham
Value in 1997: £40,844
Current Value: £136,599
Increase: 234 per cent
The show features a young boy with a magical watch that can stop time, but nothing can halt the rise in property prices.
When he first hit our screens in 1997 the average Nottingham house price was £40,844, trailing the wider English average by 34 per cent.
Since then residents have enjoyed an increase or more than 300 per cent in property values.
However, the current average of £136,559 now trails the wider English average by 44 per cent, making homes in Nottingham a relative bargain.
Bernard’s Watch was set in Nottingham where property prices have increased by more than 200 per cent
The average home in Nottingham now costs £136,599 – a bargain compared to the national average
Thomas the Tank Engine
Lives: Between Brighton and Southwark
Value in 1984: £39,521 (Brighton) & £37,501 (Southwark)
Current Value: £362,405 (Brighton) & £507,766 (Southwark)
Increase: 817 per cent (Brighton) & 1,254 (Southwark)
The South Coast Railway leads Thomas and his friends from London through Surrey into Brighton.
The property price increase enjoyed depends on what end of the line Thomas is calling home but with a 817 per cent jump at one end, and 1,254 per cent at the other, he can’t go wrong with either.
The South Coast Railway leads Thomas and his friends from London through Surrey into Brighton and properties have increased in value at both ends
A terraced house in Southwark where prices have increased by more than 1,200 per cent
Bodger and Badger
Live in: Brighton
Value in 1989: £89,043
Current Value: £362,405
Increase: 307 per cent
Handyman Simon Bodger and his mashed potato loving pet badger star in this Brighton based series.
Their home is a good investment, as property in the Brighton area is almost 50 per cent above the national average.
Bodger and Badger have seen property prices in the area increase more than 300 per cent since 1989.
Handyman Simon Bodger and his mashed potato loving pet badger are residents of Brighton where prices have increased more than 300 per cent
The average home in Brighton now costs more than £360,000 – almost 50 per cent about the national average
Fireman Sam
Lives in: Rhondda Cynon Taf
Value in 1987: £18,799
Current Value: £105,085
Increase: 459 per cent
Fireman Sam has resided in Pontypandy since 1987, a combination of Pontypridd and Tonypandy, both of which are in the region of Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Although Sam has enjoyed an increase of almost 500 per cent since his first call out 30 years ago, property prices in the area are 30 per cent less than the Welsh average.
Fireman Sam has enjoyed an increase of almost 500 per cent in property value since his first call out in
Homes in Rhondda Cynon Taf have risen in value but are still 30 per cent below the Welsh average
Rosie and Jim
Live in: Birmingham
Value in 1990: £41,368
Current Value: £175,399
Increase: 324 per cent
If the two ragdolls were to venture off their narrowboat, they would benefit from the increasing value of Birmingham property.
Although the property values in Birmingham haven’t kept up with the English average, trailing by 28 per cent, it does mean the area is more affordable.
However, they have increased by more than 300 per cent since Rosie and Jim first took to the water in 1990.
Rosie and Jim have sensibly stayed on their canal boat, rather than settling in a Birmingham property which is now 324 per cent more expensive than it was in 1990
The average property in Birmingham costs more than £175,000 but is below the national average